


World's Best Assassins (Right?)

by Cry3TearsLikeJ3T



Category: Take That (Band)
Genre: Gary's a teacher, M/M, Mark's a florist, They're assassins, WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-07-17 21:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 72,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19963030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cry3TearsLikeJ3T/pseuds/Cry3TearsLikeJ3T
Summary: Robbie, Howard & Jason are highly skilled assassins, working for the government and taking down the biggest and baddest targets but when they're brought together for a group take down for a target who lives out in the middle of nowhere and is seemingly innocent, nothing is as it seems and this clearly isn't going to be a regular job. Especially when Robbie may or may have developed feelings for the target.Or basically, they gotta kill Gary even though he seems innocent, Robbie's like "oh shit he's fit" and Jason is just totally fine ok? He totally doesn't care that he's single again and that Howard has just seemingly moved on to this little florist. Yeah, totally cool and just another job.





	1. Well Shit

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first TT fic that I'm actually posting so please enjoy and of course don't feel shy and comment anything because it's great to read!

It had just hit midnight when Robbie found himself in a well-earned moment of silent as he stood in the luxurious apartment his job required him to be in at the time. He was simply enjoying the moment as he stood by the large window that looked out onto the city of London below him. The city was covered in the light of the thousands of buildings and streetlamps and the only thing you could hear was the sound of cars driving through the crowded streets. It was quite nice if you ignored the five dead bodies spread out across the apartment that is.

Robbie Williams was an assassin and if he had to say so himself, he was a very good assassin. He worked for a very small and very private section of the government that only existed to deal with major threats to the country or its allies. Robbie enjoyed his work because he got paid a lot of money, so he never had to worry about his high standard of living leaving him in poverty. He also enjoyed the fact that he was constantly surrounded by incredibly attractive people as he went undercover in the highest parts of society where the women were fierce and sexy, and the men were stupid and pretty. 

Today’s job had required him to take out some rich guy who was apparently bad, though Robbie never read the mission briefs in full because it didn’t really concern him as to who they were if they were just going to be dead by the end of it. So, Robbie did his usual routine of seducing his way to the target before taking them out as well as the security, which was frankly quite disappointing for somebody who was supposedly quite wealthy.

Robbie had been thinking about just how disappointing it had been until his phone started to buzz in his blazer pocket, bringing him back to reality. He sighed before swapping the pistol in his right hand into his left and then reaching into his pocket and retrieving the device, hitting the answer button as he brought it to his ear.

“Hello, you’re speaking to the world’s most dashing and brilliant assassin, how may I be of assistance?” Robbie greeted, knowing full well that this annoyed his employers.

“I would lecture you on the proper way to speak to your superiors, but you never listen so I’m going to ignore that for now,” The man on the other end responded, his name being unknown because Robbie didn’t actually remember it from the countless times it had been written on his contracts.

“A wise decision really but anyway, what’re you calling for?” 

“I’m calling for two reasons, one is I want to know if you’ve completed your assignment and two, we have a rather important task for you next,” The man explained, and Robbie had to physically stop himself from groaning at this because he had made plans in his free time but obviously they were never going to see the light of day at this point.

“I finished about ten minutes ago and is this new task more important than every other important job I’ve done because I thought all my missions were important?” Robbie questioned, not sure as to what qualified as being more important than the hits he’d already done.

“This task will require you to travel to a village out in the middle of nowhere with two other assassins of our choosing to kill a target that poses a threat to our organisation.”

“Wait just a second, you’re sending _three_ assassins to kill one person who lives out in the middle of nowhere?” Robbie asked, unable to comprehend just how dangerous this person must be to require such a force when one person of Robbie’s skill should be enough for every other mission. 

“That is correct.”

“What the hell did this person do to require such a force?”

“I’m afraid I cannot say, only that he is incredibly dangerous and must be stopped immediately because we’ve wasted too much time already in tracking him down, so I must know now, do you accept?”

This job sounded difficult and would involve Robbie having to cooperate and work in a team, which he usually couldn’t do. However, it sounded big and like it would pay him an absurd amount, so the choice was now obvious.

“I most definitely accept but quick question, who am I working with?”

“Howard Donald and Jason Orange.” _Fuck_.

*  
It was dark, and it was loud in the nightclub when Howard Donald had entered it in his best black suit and a pistol in his pocket. This was where he lived and spent his nights so to be doing a job inside a club was unusual but certainly not wrong to him. 

He slipped through the sweaty crowd as quickly as possible before he spotted his guarded target sitting in the reserved area across the room. The pulsing bass and flashing lights certainly gave Howard the advantage as he approached the restricted area unnoticed by the countless other guards stationed across the club.

However, his temporary invisibility was gone the moment he exited the crowd and came face to face with the first guard, who instantly recognised him from his past attempts at the hit. Howard didn’t waste any time in throwing the first punch, which knocked the man out instantly before he turned to take on the next.

There were three others approaching and so Howard was quick to grab the current male’s head before bringing it down before he brought his knee up with great force and the two collided before he threw the man to the ground and turned to the approaching guards. However, he was quick to move towards the stage where the lights were the brightest and the music was the loudest because this was most certainly going to throw them off.

It did just that as they men attempted to focus their attacks, but the lights were blinding and the music was painful to an untrained ear. It didn’t bother Howard as he’d grown up and lived in such places because it was the only place where he found solace from his own thoughts. So, he used his advantage and threw a few punches and kicks before finally taking the last one out. Now to the real target.

Howard moved back towards the restricted area before entering it and finding the target still sitting, completely unaware of how close to the end it was for him. He simply walked up to the table before pulling out his pistol at a rather unnatural speed before pointing it at the head of the singular guard, who stood by the table, and pulled the trigger.  
Now there was chaos as those nearby who’d heard and witnessed the kill screamed and ran away before Howard aimed the gun at the target’s head. Howard didn’t know and didn’t really care who it was that he was killing because he could tell just by looking at him that he deserved this. Which is why Howard ignored the desperate pleas before firing once again, watching as the body went limp instantly. He lowered his arm and nodded at his work before putting the gun away and simply made his way out the back because nobody was around now to stop him.

The alleyway outside was dimly lit by the street light but it was empty, which was good enough for Howard as he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to confirm that the target was dead.

Howard then began to walk home because he needed to pack for his assignment that he’d taken up that same day. He hadn’t found out any details, only that it was in the middle of nowhere and was a group assignment with some unknown partners.

It was a short walk fortunately but apparently he’d missed a phone call during that time. Howard saw it was from Jason and he sighed because he didn’t really want to face his problems at the moment.

Jason Orange was another assassin that Howard had been casually sleeping with for the past year, which had been going swimmingly until Howard realised that he wanted something more and Jason simply did not. He really liked Jason and so had tried his best to change the way that their meetings went but Jason always got his way and if Howard tried to talk serious, Jason turned it away or shot him down. So, Howard had decided that he was going to put an end to their little arrangement before he left for the new task because he’d finally realised that there was no point in trying anymore and that he needed to move on and find somebody who wanted the same as him.  
Howard had reluctantly called Jason back, his heart pounding as it rang out. He was going to have to be fast and to the point otherwise Jason was going to get his way again. The phone then rang out a few more times before Jason picked up.

“Hi Howard, wanna meet up soon?” _Shit_.

*  
Jason Orange had been in the middle of a job in a hotel that was far too pretentious for his taste when his phone rang out. It was Howard and so Jason picked up immediately as he made his way down the corridor that led to his target’s room, which he just knew was going to be far too big for one person.

“Hi Howard, wanna meet up soon?” Jason greeted, deciding to get straight to the point because he was on a tight schedule.

“Um I’d say yes but I need to talk to you about something first and I doubt you’ll want to see me after,” Howard responded, and Jason frowned because he knew exactly where this was going.

“How, I’ve told you before, I just don’t do serious relationships right now because our job isn’t exactly suited for it,” Jason explained once again as he reached the target’s door.

“I know and that’s why I’ve decided that we should stop meeting up,” Howard replied, and Jason was silent for a moment. Was he being dumped? No, that happened when you were in a relationship, which he was not. So, what was happening and why did Jason feel so strange? What they had was casual and not serious, so surely, Jason shouldn’t be so stunned or silent over the matter, but he was.

“Right, well I suppose that’s the sensible thing to do since we want different things, so I’ll just be going now then, goodbye Howard,” Jason said once he’d found the words to say before abruptly hanging up.

Ok, it was over, and Jason was completely fine with that and was going to simply move on and complete his task neatly and quietly.

Jason then opened the target’s door and found that there were about four other men inside along with the target, who he presumed were security. This wasn’t a problem because Jason was a trained professional and he would deal with this as quickly and quietly as possible because he was one hundred percent focused on the mission and not Howard, right?

The answer was no as Jason discovered the moment the door shut behind him and he pulled out his two pistols from their holsters on his hips before aiming them at two of the men’s heads and firing, killing them instantly.

He then did a small run up to the next man before throwing himself into a handstand and catching his feet on the man’s shoulders before using this to bring the rest of his body up as he was now on this man’s shoulders with his legs crossed around his throat. Jason used all of his strength in his thin legs to choke the man as he then reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a knife, which he used to stab the man in the back of the neck anyway because now he was being shot at. 

Jason fell with the now deceased man but landed much more gracefully than the limp body before tossing the bloody knife in his hand into the man’s gut, which caused him to stumble and fall. This left Jason alone with the target, who was stood by the window at the back of the room in a state of complete shock.

The next move would’ve been to just grab one of his guns off the floor and shoot the guy but Jason just wanted to go home as soon as possible now and so he took the faster route of approaching the man and just kicking him with full force, which sent him straight through the glass where he would fall to his death. Now, this wasn’t Jason’s usual style as he preferred to use knives and guns to make clean and fatal blows to avoid too much mess, but he was feeling angry for reasons he did not understand at the time.

Jason had gone home that night in a state of confused anger as he tried to focus on packing for his next big job that he’d only accepted a few hours earlier. He also realised while packing that perhaps it would be good to head out into the country because he’d be working away and would be working with two other assassins, which would help keep his mind busy and away from his confusion over his situation with Howard.

Yes, this would be good for Jason.


	2. A Journey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A journey is taken and a plan is made. (I promise stuff will begin soon)

When Robbie was stood outside the hotel where he was supposedly getting picked up along with Howard and Jason, it was cloudy and quite cold. However, it was October so he didn’t really expect any less and simply had to put up with it.

“I thought you were dead,” A familiar voice greeted, which caused Robbie to turn and find Howard standing beside him in casual clothing, which was an unusual sight, with a duffle bag and a rather small suitcase.

“And I thought you’d be off in some hotel with Jason, far away from me, so I suppose we’re both a little disappointed,” Robbie responded, folding his arms because he wasn’t exactly sure where he stood with Howard anymore after their last meeting at the end of training.

“Rob, I know we didn’t exactly leave on good terms at the end of training but-”

“You fucking stabbed me!” Robbie exclaimed before realising he’d been a bit too loud.

“Because I thought you were that knobhead who kept giving you a hard time,” Howard explained, and Robbie was silent for a moment, almost touched by this truth.

“Why didn’t you tell me that?” 

“Because I got suspended for it and when I got back, you’d move up and out of training and I never saw you or had a way to contact you,” Howard replied, and then they were left in silence until Robbie decided to lighten the mood a little.

“So where’s Jason? Thought you two were inseparable?” 

“Not sure, I ended things with him last night because I wanted something serious and he didn’t,” Howard explained rather bluntly, not even looking at Robbie.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Robbie said, not sure as to what else to say as the atmosphere descended into awkwardness.

“I’d known it was coming for a while so there’s not really anything to be sorry about if I’m honest, but on the bright side, we’re going to be away on a job and it’ll give me some space from him.”

“Uh Howard? Are you aware of who our other partner is?”

“Didn’t ask, why? Who is it?” 

“It’s-”

“What the bloody hell are you two doing here?” Another familiar voice, which Robbie instantly recognised as Jason, questioned in a rather irritable tone.

“We’re your partners on this special assignment, lucky you Jason,” Robbie responded as he saw the thin man approach them and stand directly in front of the two.

“I thought you were dead?” 

“It seems that everybody thinks this and I’m slightly offended by that.”

“Well you aren’t exactly the most careful, Rob,” Howard remarked, and Robbie simply shook his head.

“This is discrimination, I passed the training exams like everyone else, I am no less capable than the two of you, I am a cold blooded killer just like the rest of the people who come out of this programme,” Robbie argued, and the poor attempt not to laugh from the two just made everything so much worse.

“You’re not perfect either you two, you’re both just as much as a mess as I am ok? With your little hook ups ending because of terrible commitment and communication issues,” Robbie then added out of pure frustration, which caused both Howard and Jason’s faces to drop and the group descended into a rather uncomfortable atmosphere.

The silence went on for an unbearable amount of time as it continued on even as the company car arrived to pick the three up. They dumped their bags in the boot before climbing in the car with the three having to squash themselves into the back because apparently, they were not to sit in the front. So, Robbie had to sit in the middle of the two despite being the biggest out of the three, but he figured it would be safest this way.

“How far away is this village again?” Robbie questioned, hoping that somebody would have a clue as to how long he was going to have to suffer.

“It’s about a four drive but that’s not including London traffic,” The driver responded, and Robbie could only force a smile.

“Fantastic.”

*  
It ended up taking five hours and Robbie had never been so happy to be out in the countryside when he finally got out of the car. They had been dropped off outside a rather small and old hotel or inn judging by its size and were then left with nothing but their bags and a file with everything they needed to know.

“Just so you know, if there’s a double in there and we don’t have to share, I’m having it,” Robbie said before picking up his bags and entering the building before anybody could protest.

Inside there was a small room just big enough for the three to stand together. There was a front desk with a little bell, couple of paintings, a staircase and a few chairs to the side but aside from that, there was nothing really to look at.

Jason had been the one to step up and hit the bell, despite Robbie’s internal desire to do so, and then they waited for a few minutes until a woman appeared before them. This woman was roughly Robbie’s age, had long golden hair that was loosely curled and had a kind smile.

“Hello, how may I help you gentlemen this fine afternoon?” The woman greeted with a very strong American accent.

“We have a room reserved under the name Hudson?” Jason responded, and the woman nodded before turning to the computer beside her and began to type away, which was when Robbie noticed the name tag on her shirt, which read “Ayda”.

“Ah yes, you’re booked in for two weeks, correct?” Ayda said, and Robbie swore he almost passed out upon hearing that because two weeks for three professional killers to take out one target in the middle of nowhere was simply ridiculous.

“Correct.”

Ayda then explained what room they had and where to find it before handing Jason the keys and disappearing into the back again.

“Two fucking weeks? Are they joking?” Robbie questioned as the three then carried their belongings up the stairs and made their way down the tight corridor to their designated room.

“Maybe the file will explain it,” Howard said as they reached their room and Jason began to fiddle with the key until the door clicked and he opened it.

The three stepped in one by one, Robbie going first of course, and then shut the door before they could take in the room before them. The room, much to Robbie’s dismay, only had one singular bed and one double along with the standard wooden wardrobe, desk, portraits and bathroom. There was certainly nothing to look at.

“So I see there being two options here, you two graciously share the single and I take the double, or one of you sleeps in the single and the other very lucky man gets to share with me, so which will it be?” Robbie asked once they’d all dumped their bags on the floor.

“May I ask just why both of these scenarios involve you getting the double bed?” Jason questioned, clearly not reading the situation as carefully as Robbie had.

“Because I didn’t think you’d both want to share a double bed together since you’re not a thing anymore and it’d be awkward, well, even more so than it has been so far,” Robbie explained but this did not seem to satisfy Jason, while Howard seemed to be trying his best to remain out of the argument.

“We’d have to share a bed if you got the double all to yourself, so what was the reasoning behind that part?” Jason shot back, and Robbie had to admit, he’d got him there.

“A very good question Jason but I’m afraid your friendship level with me isn’t high enough for you to unlock the answer,” Robbie countered, and there was a look in Jason’s eyes that Robbie could tell was one of a man who was trying everything in his willpower not to murder him.

“Fine, Howard can share with you because I’m certainly not doing that,” Jason said firmly before picking up his bags once again and carrying them to the single bed.

“And just why won’t you share with me?” Robbie asked because while he certainly didn’t mind the idea of sharing with somebody of Howard’s body type, Jason was a very beautiful man and he was offended that Jason was so cold about it the situation.

“Because I know you well enough that you’re simply going to spend your time getting distracted by the fact that you’re sharing a bed with me and not focusing on the mission at hand and there’s also the fact that I have standards,” Jason explained as he got to unpacking his gear from a backpack.

“And Howard meets them?” Robbie asked because while Howard was incredibly fit and handsome, he also one of the most bizarre people in Robbie’s life, which was saying something because Robbie knew that he himself was quite peculiar.

“Hey, I’m right here Rob,” Howard interjected, and Robbie only shrugged before turning his attention back to Jason.

“As a matter of fact, he does so let’s stop with the ridiculousness and get on with the job,” Jason said in a tone that could silence a child on Christmas, so in this case, Robbie.

“Right, now let’s look at the file and find out just who we’re up against,” Jason then added before reaching into his backpack once again and revealing a rather slim file.  
Robbie then watched as Jason opened the file and read through the singular piece of paper inside before looking up at the two.

“Apparently our target is named Gary Barlow and all we have on him is a photo and a sentence telling us that he’s incredibly dangerous,” Jason explained, and Robbie raised an eyebrow.

“That’s it? A name, photo and some bloody obvious statement?” Robbie questioned, and Jason simply shrugged.

“Perhaps they don’t know anything about him personally, maybe they found the guy and wanted to get him as soon as possible in case he bolted at the slightest hint of an investigation.”

“So we’re just expected to use this one photo between us to identify one man in a whole village?” 

“It’s not a very big village,” Howard stated. 

“That’s not the point Howard, the point is that we have been given a ridiculous task.”

“Honestly Robbie, you’re getting far too upset about this, I mean did you ever think that maybe that’s why we need the two weeks? To find him and learn his ways before taking him out sufficiently? This task is not ridiculous, it just requires more thought and precision than the others due to the size of the town meaning there will be more suspicion on us,” Jason responded in that “we’re finished” tone once again and while Robbie wanted to continue his argument that this whole task was too vague and suspicious itself, he knew Jason wouldn’t listen.

“Fine, you win, can I see the photo?” Robbie asked, figuring that he might as well find out just what this man looked like.

Jason had simply nodded before handing the paper over to Robbie, who took one look at the photo, which had obviously been taken without the man’s awareness, and sighed. Gary Barlow looked pretty average from what he could see with his dark blonde hair and green eyes.

“You know? I thought this guy was going to be absolutely stunning from all the fuss but he’s nothing special really, is he?” Robbie said before handing it to Howard, who had been attempting to get a good look.

“Not that it should matter but isn’t this a good thing then? You won’t feel guilty for killing somebody you find attractive if he’s just average to you,” Jason responded, and Robbie could see his point, but it didn’t make it any less disappointing.

“I know but I’m still annoyed about this whole thing.”

“Doesn’t he look kinda familiar?” Howard then questioned before turning the photo so both Robbie and Jason could see.

“I’ve never seen him,” Robbie stated, though if he had he obviously didn’t remember.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, let me have a closer look,” Jason said before taking the paper back and staring at it silently for a moment.

“Where do you recognise him from, How?” Jason questioned.

“I dunno, I just feel like I’ve seen his face somewhere, even if I’ve never met him,” Howard explained with a shrug.

“I think I understand you, there is something oddly familiar but I can’t say I know him,” Jason said with a shake of his head before putting the paper back in the file and placing it back on his bed.

“Right, putting his face aside, we need to decide on our cover occupations because I doubt they get many people visiting, so we need jobs that allow us to get around or see a lot of people, so does anyone have any ideas?” Jason then explained, and before Robbie could even open his mouth, Howard spoke up.

“I’m going to be the postman,” He stated rather confidently.

“Any particular reason?” Jason asked, seeming to be just as surprised as Robbie had been by the level of enthusiasm.

“Two reasons, one being that it will allow me to investigate this whole village without raising suspicion, while also having access to Mr Barlow’s post and reason number two being that I’d look great in the uniform,” Howard explained, and while the second reason was a rather odd one, Robbie had to admit that Howard really would look quite spectacular in the outfit.

“That’s really smart How, but I’m afraid mine is the best job of them all as I will become the librarian,” Jason said, and for a moment, Robbie wasn’t sure whether he was joking or not, but he quickly realised Jason was being completely serious.

“Um would you like to explain just why the librarian is the best job?” 

“Well obviously because everyone uses the library, which will also give me access to his address and record of every book he’s ever taken out, which will give me more knowledge on the target.”

“Uh Jason, I think you’re greatly overestimating just how many people use the library these days,” Robbie said, though he really had no idea if what he was saying was true, he was simply going of his own personal experience of never setting foot inside a library.

“Rob, this village is literally the smallest in the country with a population of about two hundred people and it’s in the middle of nowhere, so it’s probably filled with a lot of people who don’t really rely on technology, therefore meaning that the library is going to be rather popular to most for a source of entertainment,” Jason explained, and Robbie figured that that made sense but it still felt strange to him that there were still people out there that wanted to learn and read in their own free time.

“What’s your plan then, Rob?” Howard then questioned, and Robbie was silent for a moment because he hadn’t really thought about it because he’d never had to take on an official role.

“Um I’m not really sure, I think I’ll just figure it out as I go along if I’m honest, go where the moment takes me, y’know? 

“So you’re basically just going to walk around, investigate and hope for the best then?” 

“Yeah basically.”

“Fair enough, but anyway, I’m off to kill the postman, I’ll back in an hour,” Howard then announced before grabbing his coat and disappearing out the room.

That was certainly one way to get a job.


	3. A God

It was evening time when Robbie and Jason had finished eating together in the little dining room in the inn. Howard had been gone for hours and had left his phone so they figured they’d just go ahead and eat without him.

“Do you think he’s alright?” Robbie asked as his placed his glass down.

“Who knows, he’s probably off having a good time with the postman before he decides to just end it all without a bloody warning,” Jason said, his voice just seeping with a passive aggressiveness that stunned Robbie for a moment.

“So I take it things didn’t go so well with Howard when he ended everything?” 

“What are talking about? Everything between me and him is fine, he wanted a relationship and I didn’t, end of story, we’re fine,” Jason responded as if Robbie had just accused him of murder, well, murder of the psychotic kind anyway.

“For some reason Jason, I don’t believe you, so why don’t you tell me what really happened? Did he break your heart Jay? Or are you just terrible at handling breakups?”

“No, I simply called him to see if he wanted to meet up and he said he thought it would best if we ended things since we want different things and there’s nothing else to it.”

“Ok, then why are you so upset about it if it wasn’t serious and you wanted different things?” Robbie questioned, determined to destroy Jason’s straight face.

“I’m not upset, I told you we’re fine.”

“I’m hearing a lot of we and not a lot of I.”

“Y’know? This really isn’t any of your business.”

“I’m your friend Jason, it’s all of my business.”

“We’re hardly friends Rob,” Jason shot back, which caught Robbie slightly off guard.

“Of course we are, we were so close back in training.”

“No, you were close with Howard while we simply knew each other through him, I mean, we never actually hung out one on one or knew anything significant about each other.”

“I think you’re over exaggerating things there,” Robbie said, unable to believe such a thing.

“I don’t even know how old you are Robbie,” Jason countered in a frustrated tone.

“Well you never asked!” 

“I shouldn’t have to because I should know your birthday and how old you’ll be, but I don’t because you never told me these things!” Jason exclaimed, and Robbie was going to argue but he realised that Jason was right, he never really talked to Jason about such things or anything for that matter.

“I suppose you’re right, I’m sorry for prying into your business,” Robbie said, though internally he wasn’t really giving up on his investigation into Jason’s mind.

“It’s alright, you were just concerned but like I said-”

“You’re fine, I got it.” Then there was silence as Jason finished his own drink and Robbie watched him rather curiously.

However, this silence was then broken rather abruptly by the appearance of Howard, who had come rushing into the room dressed in the postman’s uniform, completely covered in sweat and dirt.

“Jesus Christ Howard, where have you been?” Jason questioned as Howard took a moment to regain his breath before taking a seat beside Robbie.

“I’ve been on a journey that has forever changed me,” Howard replied as he grabbed Robbie’s glass and downed the remaining contents before slamming it back down, despite the look of offence on Robbie’s face.

“Ok, care to elaborate?” Jason questioned, and Howard nodded.

“So I went out as I said to off the postman, which I did after an hour or so of wandering this place, and then I dumped the body in this river outside the village after I stole his uniform, but then a problem came up, I was lost,” Howard began, and Robbie could tell this was going to be a good story.

“I tried retracing my steps, but everything looks the same around here, so I decided to use this map that was buried in the bottom of the postman’s bag but it turns out, I can’t read maps and I couldn’t figure out where I was or where you guys were because it’s a really shit map and all the writing is either too small or faded.”

“So, I decided to just keep going and hope for the best, which wasn’t going all too well until it happened,” Howard continued, and Robbie found himself shifting ever so slightly closer.

“What happened?” He questioned.

“I found myself outside a florists and you will never believe who I saw in there,” Howard replied, and Robbie was practically on the edge of his seat, in fact, even Jason seemed rather intrigued.

“Did you find Gary Barlow?” Jason asked, a look of complete shock on his face.

“Better, I found a God,” Howard replied, and while Jason’s face dropped, Robbie remained completely enthralled.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Jason said.

“Well you see Jason, I was stood outside this florists and I simply happened to look inside, which was when I saw him, this very small but incredibly attractive man, who was stood behind the counter,” Howard explained, and Jason nodded in a rather slow manner.

“Did you go in? Did you talk to him?” Robbie questioned, and Howard smiled at this.

“I did, well I did after I spent the next hour just watching him from a bush across the street because I wasn’t sure how somebody was to approach such a magnificent being,” Howard responded, and Robbie just completely understood while Jason seemed to be stuck in between a state of confusion and anger towards Howard’s experience.

“When I entered that shop, I felt as confident as ever because I’d weighed out every possible way that this encounter could go and was certain I’d find the correct path, however at that very moment, this man had been bending over to pick up some box or something and I swear I almost blacked out because it was quite possibly the most beautiful and sexy arse I’ve ever seen.”

“Really? Was it that sexy?” Robbie asked, unable to imagine such a beautiful thing.

“It really was like I saw it and just knew that this was my mission.”

“Howard, you’re mission isn’t to fuck some guy you’ve only known for a few hours, it’s to take out Gary Barlow,” Jason said, completely cutting in and breaking the intense atmosphere.

“Shut up Jason, Howard has found his life’s purpose and you’re ruining it with your realism,” Robbie shot back rather aggressively before turning his attention back to Howard.

“Please, continue.”

“Well as I was saying, I almost blacked out but then the man stood up and he was somehow even smaller up close but that didn’t matter because now I was face to face with this God and I had to make the first move as soon as possible before I got lost in his gorgeous eyes, so I grabbed my map from my pocket and I slammed it down on the counter, asserting my dominance, before I asked him just where the hell I was and you’ll never believe what he said.”

“Let me guess, he told you where you were like any ordinary person would?” Jason said but Howard shook his head.

“No, he said and I quote “I have no idea” I mean, can you believe that?” And once again, Jason pulled a face while Robbie looked at Howard with the same surprise that was in his voice.

“Jesus, that man was just openly inviting you to fuck him,” Robbie said, and Howard nodded.

“How the hell does that equal to that? He’s obviously just an idiot that really doesn’t know where you are despite living here,” Jason argued, obviously trying his best to deflate Howard’s mood due to own jealously.

“Jason, don’t play dumb just because you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous, I really don’t understand how you’ve reached that conclusion.”

“Jason, nobody is that stupid ok? This man was obviously trying to play dumb so that Howard would stick around and ask more questions until the tension reaches its peak and they do it, it’s basic math but back to the story, what happened next?” Robbie explained before once again turning back to Howard.

“Well after he said that, I got to asking him questions about himself, which was when I found out that his name is Mark Owen and by the end of my visit, he-” Howard cut himself off for a brief moment as he looked at Jason and the rather scary expression on his face before finishing.

“Gave me his pen… Mark gave me his pen because I’d lost the one I had with me somehow, but anyway, I’m really sweaty so I’m just gonna go take a shower, bye.” And then, Howard was gone, leaving Robbie and Jason in an awkward silence, which frankly, Robbie was sick of being in.

“Well I think we should probably head up then, unless you want to hang around on your own?” Robbie suggested, and Jason nodded.

“Yeah, I think I’ll just hang around a bit, I need to clear my head from all this nonsense you two keep putting in it.”

“Suit yourself.”

Robbie was then quick to rush up to the room where he found Howard not in the bathroom but sitting on the edge of their bed. He was simply staring at the wall across from him, not moving a muscle.

“You alright How? You ran out of there pretty fast,” Robbie asked as he closed the door and sat himself down beside Howard.

“Not really, I don’t know what to do.”

“Is this about the non-existent pen?” Robbie questioned, and Howard nodded.

“Mark’s really special, I can just feel it, like he comes off as really sweet and innocent on the outside but I can see that he’s actually the guy of my dreams.”

“And just what is the guy of your dreams?”

“Innocent looking but also willing to do pretty much anything sexually if I’m honest.”

“And you see this in Mark?”

“Pretty much.”

“So what’s the problem?” Robbie asked, failing to find an issue.

“Mark gave me his address and invited me over tonight, so if I read the situation right, I may fulfill my mission faster than expected but I don’t want to hurt Jason any more than I have, I mean, I can see it in his eyes that what we had was more than he was willing to admit to me, but I lost my spark with him a while ago so while it’s not like I’m just jumping ship immediately, I’m scared he’ll think that if he sees me leaving without an explanation,” Howard explained, and Robbie had never felt so determined to help Howard out in his life.

“Jason won’t find out because I’m going to help get you out of here and give you a few hours of freedom, ok? You will fuck this man if it’s last thing I contribute towards on this god forsaken planet,” Robbie stated as he stood up and looked at Howard, who seemed to become immediately infected by Robbie’s own determination as he too stood up.

“Thank you so much Rob, I swear I’ll return the favour.”

“Alright then, let’s do this.”

Robbie then waited as Howard showered and changed into something clean before the two marched back down the stairs where they found Jason standing in the reception, just talking to Ayda.

“Hi Jason, Howard just realised that he’s lost his map, which he kind of needs to do his job so I’m just gonna head out and help him look for it so we might be gone for a couple of hours so don’t wait up,” Robbie said before shoving Howard out the front door, not giving Jason anytime to offer help or intervene.

“Alright, just text me when you’re leaving his and we’ll meet up across the road, ok?” Robbie said, and Howard nodded before taking off down the road.

Now Robbie just had to find something to do at for a couple of hours at 8pm, in the dark, in this village, which was in the middle of nowhere. Easy.


	4. An Introduction To Gary Barlow & Mark Owen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get chaotic.

Robbie had ended up just wandering around the streets, despite the cold wind that threatening to knock him over, simply searching for something to do. He checked his phone for the time and found it had only been ten minutes and he groaned because he was already regretting his decision to be a good friend. In fact, he was almost tempted to just head back and claim that he’d lost Howard in the wilderness, but fortunately he was stopped by the sound of life coming from ahead.

He followed the sound of the loud voices until he reached what he presumed was the town centre, which was lit up with some rather old fashioned looking streetlamps. There he found the source of the voices, which were coming from inside the only pub in sight. From the outside it looked quite lively and full despite Jason’s earlier guess that there would only be rather quiet and traditional people around. It also seemed to be the only place open due to it being a Sunday and just past 8pm and so despite Robbie’s hatred for crowds, he decided to go inside, have himself a drink and find somewhere to sit for the next couple of hours.

Robbie was able to successfully squeeze inside and reach the bar without too much hassle despite there hardly being enough room to put an arm out. He was then quick to get a drink before escaping from the crowd of men ranging from early thirties to possibly later sixties. Now all he had to do was find a seat, which proved to be incredibly difficult as he scanned the room multiple times before he eventually from an empty seat that was sitting on one side of a table for two people. There was already a man sitting on one side but he was sitting with a pair of glasses on and had a book open in front of him, and so Robbie assumed he wouldn’t mind if he sat in the empty seat and drank his drink quietly.

However, the closer that Robbie got to the man, the more familiar his face became and it took Robbie a moment before he came to a standstill at the realisation. He was quick to reach into his coat pocket with his spare hand and retrieve the photo from the file, which Robbie had taken due to his rather forgetful nature and the averageness of the man in the photo, before holding it up and looking between it and the man sitting at the table. Yep, it was definitely him, the man at the table was Gary Barlow. This realisation actually infuriated Robbie because apparently, Gary Barlow was a thousand times more good looking than the photo had led on and he was mad that he truly was going to have kill such a stunning man. So after having this realisation, Robbie quickly placed the photo back in his pocket before finally reaching the table and clearing his throat.

“Y’know? I don’t really think this is exactly the most quiet place to sit and read,” Robbie said, which seemed to catch Gary’s attention as he seemed to jump slightly before looking up at Robbie and he just simply wanted to die because looking at Gary so close and face to face had just caused his good looks to skyrocket.

“Oh um no, it’s not really but I was here earlier when it was a bit quieter and I suppose I didn’t really notice the change,” Gary responded, and Robbie had to look around the pub again just to make sure it really was as loud and full as he’d initially thought, and yes, it really was, so it astounded him that Gary couldn’t notice such a thing.

“You really didn’t notice all this?” Robbie questioned, and Gary also took a look around before responding.

“No, it usually gets like this, doesn’t it?” 

“I wouldn’t know, I’m new around here,” Robbie replied, and Gary seemed quite surprised.

“What brings you here?” 

“To your table? Well it’s the only free seat, I’m afraid,” Robbie said, deciding to stick with something funny until he could come up with a good cover story.

“I meant to this village,” Gary responded, seeming to totally miss the humour in Robbie’s response.

“I know, I was just trying to be funny, clearly I’m not as humorous as I thought I was.”

“Oh, right, sorry, I’ve had a long day is all, but you’re very welcome to sit here if I’ve not completely turned you away?”

“If anything, you’ve done the opposite because you seem like an interesting man,” Robbie said before finally taking a seat and placing his glass on the table.

“I’m Gary by the way, Gary Barlow,” Gary said, extending a hand, which Robbie gladly shook.

“Robbie Williams,” Robbie greeted before immediately regretting what he’d done as using your real name was strictly forbidden for obvious reasons.

“It’s nice to meet you Robbie.”

“Same to you Gary but if you don’t mind me asking, why are you reading in a pub?”

“It might sound a little strange but many years ago I used to work all over the world and I’d always land myself in the busiest of cities, which were obviously really loud and filled with people wherever you went, so when I quit my job and came here, it was too quiet, so I find myself coming to these loud places, it’s almost…” Gary trailed off as he seemed to try and find the word, but Robbie already had it.

“Therapeutic?” 

“That’s exactly it, which makes me assume you’ve come here in a similar state?” 

“Well not exactly, I’m only here temporarily but I understand the need for some quiet but not being able to live in it,” Robbie explained, praying that Gary wasn’t one to pry.

“So what are you doing here then? This isn’t exactly the most exciting place to visit,” Gary asked, and Robbie mentally cursed realising that this was the moment that decided just what his story was going to be, no matter how bizarre it sounded, he had to stick with whatever came out first and so after staring at the glasses on Gary’s face for a moment, he spoke.

“I’m a substitute at the school,” Robbie said, unsure at first as to why that was his answer, but then he realised it may have been the teacher look that Gary’s glasses were giving him.

“Really? Which school? Primary or secondary?” Gary questioned, seeming to be rather excited by this.

“Uh primary,” Robbie replied because he had no desire to even be a fake teacher at secondary school considering those were the worst years of his life.

“That’s really strange, I work at the primary too, except I’m full time, but I’m assuming this also means you’re the cover for my sick teaching assistant Ella?” _Well shit._

“…Yes, that is exactly what I’m here for, covering for poor, sick, Ella.” _Change your story now._

“I will admit, I’m a little surprised as I hadn’t been informed that you’d arrived or would be starting so soon but I really appreciate you coming out here none the less.”

“It’s really no problem, I’m just really eager to help educate today’s youth is all.” _Please stop, you’re not doing anybody any favours._

“I really wish everyone had that attitude.”

“So do I Gary, so do I.” _This is just painful, please change the subject before you do something else stupid._

“So Gary, what else do you do around here beside teaching and reading in noisy pubs?” Robbie questioned, hoping to catch him off guard and find out what shifty business he’s been up to that would require his execution as Robbie assumed that Gary was more than just some primary school teacher.

Gary smiled at this before closing his book and taking his glasses off before placing them down on top of said book. However, Robbie truly wished he hadn’t done this because now he somehow looked even better looking if that was at all possible.

“Well, I do a lot of exercise and cooking because I think that keeping yourself physically healthy is incredibly important,” Gary explained, and Robbie couldn’t believe that somebody so stunning could say so many unattractive words in one go.

“I couldn’t agree more, the body is a temple, right?” _Ok, it’s now apparent you have lost the ability to function._

“Exactly.” _Ok let’s try this again, ask him something else._

“So for somebody like me who’s only here temporarily, what would you suggest doing to entertain myself?” _Ok, this is safe._

“Well there’s not an awful lot to do around here but there’s some beautiful places to go on walks, there’s an old observatory that’s nice to go and have a look around but in terms of indoor things, there’s not much either aside from the library and the local shops, so as you’ve probably gathered by that, it’s not a very interesting place if you don’t live here and need something to do to pass time, sorry, Gary explained, and Robbie shook his head.

“Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault,” Robbie responded just moments before his phone buzzed in his pocket.

“Oh, hang on.”

Robbie pulled out his phone and found a text from Howard saying that he was leaving now and would be as quick as possible coming back. So, Robbie sent a quick reply before putting the phone away and looking at Gary, who seemed to have been watching Robbie with a rather curious look on his face.

“I’m really sorry about this but my mate who’s come with me needs me back so I have to leave,” Robbie said before downing as much of his drink as possible and standing up.

“That’s alright, I was thinking of heading out myself so if you want, we can walk together since I live past the inn, which I’m assuming is where you’re staying?” Gary offered, and Robbie couldn’t pass up this kind of opportunity to see if Gary’s body was anywhere near as good as his face.

“That would be nice.”

So, Robbie finished his drink and Gary gathered up his things before standing up and revealing his body in its entirety, which was close to Howard level of perfection. Gary was shorter than Robbie by a few inches and was in very good shape. Robbie also noticed just how strong and big Gary’s thighs were and his first thought was that he’d gladly let Gary murder him with them. He’d found his own God and he had to kill him.

After Robbie had spent his available time staring at Gary in awe, the two then proceeded to squeeze their way out the pub together and began the walk through the cold wind. They were quiet at first until something came to Robbie’s mind that he just had to ask about.

“So do you know like everybody in this village then? Since it’s so small?” Robbie questioned, shoving his hands into his coat pockets.

“I’ve never really thought about it but I suppose so, why?” 

“It’s just my mate who text me was just out with some guy called Mark Owen, he’s a florist I think, and I was just wondering if you knew anything about him was all?” Robbie replied, hoping to see if this God was really as good as Howard said, but judging by the rather tired look on Gary’s face, he was going to say that there may have been some exaggeration.

“Yeah, I know Mark, he’s a good friend but bloody hell is he a lot of work,” Gary responded, and now Robbie just had to know everything.

“What do you mean? Should I be concerned for my friend?”

“Probably not, I mean, Mark’s not the smartest in terms of common sense, but he’s got a big heart and lots of ideas, in fact, he’s probably better off now than he was a few years ago when we used to work together, god he was a right mess, but I wasn’t any better I suppose,” Gary explained, and Robbie wanted to ask but figured it wasn’t his business.

“So what makes him so much hard work then?” And to this, Gary sighed.

“Well for starters, he’s constantly getting himself lost and has to have me come find me most days despite living five minutes from his own shop and the town centre, but the biggest thing is the fact that he’s constantly sleeping around with every man that will have him.” Oh my god, Howard’s just slept with a thot.

“Wow, definitely sounds like a lot of work.”

“Yeah but what can you do?”

“I dunno, teach him how to read a map?”

“Oh believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Fair enough, but anyway, this is my sto-oh my god, is that Howard?” Robbie questioned as the two approached the inn and they found two people, who one of which appeared to be Howard, just going to town with each other on the park bench that was sitting outside the gates of the inn.

“Christ Mark, not again,” Gary muttered before rushing over to the scene, Robbie following closely.

“No, stop it Mark, I’m not bailing you out again if you get arrested for this!” Gary exclaimed as they reached the two where it was revealed that it was indeed Howard, who was on top of Mark as they made out rather aggressively.

“I can’t believe this is Mark Owen, the tiny God,” Robbie said as he bent down a little to try and get a better look but it was too dark and Howard was in the way.

“He is far from a God, trust me,” Gary remarked as he seemed to try and come up with a way to stop this without anybody getting hurt.

However, this hesitation was his own downfall as both Howard and Mark’s hands began to venture into dangerous territory and things started to get a little explicit.

“No!” Gary had exclaimed before rushing around to the side of the bench where their heads were.

Robbie then watched as Gary grabbed Mark by the shoulders and wrenched him out from under Howard, landing Mark clumsily on his feet and leaving Howard to fall flat on the bench surface.

“Jesus Christ Gaz, you almost killed us,” Mark said, and Robbie realised that he could now see Mark a lot better and wow, he really was something. 

“I really didn’t but don’t turn this on me, I thought you were done with doing this stuff in public?” Gary responded with the look of a tired parent.

“Y’know? I’d say this is homophobia but I suppose you can’t really be homophobic, can you?” Mark responded, and Robbie could see the alarm in Gary’s eyes before he responded.

“Stop avoiding the question and answer me.”

“I was done with it but this one isn’t like the others, I mean, look how fit he is,” Mark argued, and if he’d been arguing with Robbie, he would’ve let him off, but Gary didn’t seem convinced.

“That’s not a valid excuse and anyway, what are you doing out here?”

“Well I walked Howard down the road but when I turned back, I was lost, so I just wandered around until I ended up running into him again and then this happened,” Mark explained with a shrug as Howard finally rolled off the bench with a groan before standing up.

“I honestly don’t know how you manage these things, but it doesn’t matter right now because I’m taking you back home and I’m going to bed,” Gary said before he said goodnight to Robbie and proceeded to drag Mark away down the road.

“So, I’m guessing the sex was good then?” Robbie questioned once the two were out of earshot.

“Yeah, I’ve gotta go back tomorrow to mend his bed,” Howard replied before turning and making his way back into the inn.

It seemed as though it was a good night for the both of them.


	5. First Day at the New Job

When Robbie and Howard entered the room that night, they found Jason stood by the window, which had a little glass of what looked like water and looked out onto the front of the inn. This was not a good sign.

“Hi Jason, sorry we were gone a while,” Robbie said as he closed the door and he came further into the room with Howard.

“That’s fine, I mean, I understand why it took you so long to find the map considering it was on your bed the whole time,” Jason responded before spinning around to reveal the very map in his hands.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you found it!” Robbie exclaimed despite knowing there was no way he was going to make till tomorrow without some form of injury.

“Don’t play dumb Rob, you’re only making it so much worse for yourself, so do me a favour and tell me the truth about where you’ve been before I start on Howard,” Jason responded as he folded up the map and tossed it aside.

“I was out at the pub in the town centre,” Robbie explained, deciding to keep it as vague as possible in case there was still a way out for Howard.

“And you?” Jason questioned, turning his stern gaze onto Howard, who despite the fear in his eyes, appeared to be standing rather confidently as he folded his arms.

“I’m not going to say because you already know, don’t you?” Howard replied, and Robbie realised he should’ve known this considering Jason’s perfect view of where the chaotic events outside had taken place.

“I do, you were out with somebody you’d known for a few hours, which seems rather irresponsible to me considering we’re not going to be sticking around.”

“Oh come off it Jay, you’re just pissed because you’re jealous,” Howard argued, and Robbie couldn’t help but open his mouth in surprise because nobody was ever so direct with Jason, who at the time was staring blankly at Howard, but it was obvious he was just as surprised underneath.

“I am not jealous, you can go on dates with whoever you like and do whatever you like,” Jason responded, his voice deadly calm.

“So it doesn’t bother you that we only officially ended yesterday and I still went out with him?” Robbie could see what this was now, Howard was challenging Jason in an attempt to get him to admit his true feelings, which was quite smart really, the sooner they got closure, the sooner Robbie didn’t have to play both sides in order to survive, even though if he had to pick, he’d pick Jason simply out of survival instinct.

“No it doesn’t, we weren’t serious so it’s not like I’m missing out from this one date because we never did that.”

“Ok and you definitely weren’t bothered by the making out?” That was when there was a slight shift in Jason’s posture, which indicated that yes, he was most definitely bothered.

“Not in the slightest.”

“Alright then, so before we put this to rest, I want to know that if I had sex with Mark, would you be upset?” Howard asked, and that’s when the room suddenly seemed to drop in temperature as Jason’s eyes looked so fearful.

“Did you?” He questioned, his voice seemingly only just keeping it together.

“I did.” And Jason was silent for a moment before he folded his arms and nodded. 

“Right, well like I said, it’s fine.” Then there was an unbearable silence that Robbie just had to break.

“So does this mean you’re not going to stab me in my sleep?” Robbie asked, and Jason’s face immediately shifted into his usual tired mother expression.

“Depends, did you do anything useful while you were out? Which I’m going to assume you didn’t,” Jason responded before picking up the glass behind him and taking a drink.

“I met Gary Barlow at the pub.” Jason almost choked.

“I’m sorry, you what?”

“I went to a pub and I met Gary Barlow.”

“That’s brilliant news Rob, did you manage to find out anything?” 

“I did, I learned that he’s a teacher at the primary school after I lied and said I was a substitute there,” Robbie explained, feeling like he’d done something right for once.

“That’s good, what else did he tell you?” 

“Just that he used to travel a lot for work and that he likes exercising and just being a general healthy person I suppose, like he just seems like a regular guy too, well that’s aside from his stunning looks of course,” Robbie said, already mentally crying over having to rob the world of such an attractive man.

“Is that absolutely everything you found out?”

“Oh wait, his thighs looked so thick and strong that I would prefer it he kill me with them while I kill him so I don’t have to live with what I’ve done after,” Robbie replied, and Jason sighed at this.

“I mean is that everything important?”

“That is important but whatever, I also walked back here with him and he told me that he’s been friends with that guy Mark for a long time, in fact, he pretty much just complained about him until we found him with Howard.”

“Wait, you walked a considerable distance alone with our target and you didn’t even think for a second that you could lead him off and take him out?” Jason questioned, and Robbie was silent for a moment as he realised that yeah, he really could’ve just made up some excuse to get them out of sight and then kill him, which would mean going home and not having to stay in such a dull place anymore.

“I’d be lying if I said I did so no, I didn’t, but to be fair Jason, he was telling me all about Mark and I got so distracted,” Robbie said, reminding him that he had to tell Howard of Mark’s reputation.

“And just what was so fascinating about Mark that it made you forget your mission?” Jason asked, crossing his arms in a rather frustrated manner.

“He said that Mark’s like really stupid and gets lost all the time but that he’s also got a big heart and loads of ideas,” Robbie explained, and he could see that Howard’s interest in the conversation had increased as he seemed pleased by this news.

“And what about that was so important?”

“Oh, nothing really, just thought I’d get that out there for Howard first before I tell you guys that Gary then told me that Mark’s a hassle because essentially, and I’m really sorry about this Howard, Mark Owen is a thot, yep, you heard me, that little man has been sleeping with every man he can get his hands on,” Robbie explained, and while this seemed to significantly dampen Howard’s mood, Robbie could see that Jason was resisting the urge to laugh, but didn’t as he actually had morals and some decency.

“Well, I don’t really think that’s more important but I suppose you are easily distracted, so I suggest we put this aside for the night and figure out more tomorrow evening since we have jobs to attend to or take up,” Jason said before retrieving his pajamas and shaving bag and disappearing into the bathroom.

There was a rather heavy silence and Robbie felt bad for breaking the news so informally to Howard but it had to be done sooner rather than later.

“Look How, I know you’re upset about Mark but Jason’s right, you’ve only really known him for a few hours so don’t get too hung up on it, alright?” Robbie said, hoping to lift Howard’s spirit a bit.

“It’s just he’s the only one who I’ve really connected with in a long time in both a physical and an emotional sense, like we have a lot in common and he even gave me his number before I left, so I thought maybe I was little special but I suppose not,” Howard explained, but Robbie was now completely lost.

“How’d you find out so much about him to know that? I mean, wasn’t your whole date just sex?”

“No, when I was walking to his I got a bit lost, but then I ran into him and he said he was lost too, so we wandered around a bit, just talking until we found his house, which is really nice by the way, and then we had a lot of sex.”

“And then he gave you his number after?”

“Yeah, in fact, he’s not stopped texting me since he left with Gary, not that I’ve been able to see them since Jay was interrogating us,” Howard said, pulling out his phone and switching it on to reveal twenty messages from Mark.

“Well y’know what then? Maybe you are different, maybe Mark’s just been sleeping around to find the right person and maybe you’re it because I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t give out my number to casual hook-ups and then bombard them with so many messages the minute they leave,” Robbie said, and that definitely seemed to pick Howard up again.

“You’re right, I’m not gonna give up, in fact, I’m gonna read all these messages and respond to each and every one of them,” Howard said before unlocking his phone and opening the conversation.

Robbie managed to see some of the messages as Howard scrolled through them and wow, they were a constant shift between rather nice compliments and then simply downright sexual texts, in fact, Robbie had spotted a couple of rather revealing photos. It just made Robbie wish that he knew somebody so enthusiastic about him as a person and a hook-up.

“Well good luck with that, I’m going to get changed,” Robbie said, patting Howard on the shoulder before turning to grab his own things just as Jason exited the bathroom.

Within the next half hour, everyone was in bed but it took Robbie far longer to actually fall asleep. He was troubled due to the fact that he was going to have to get up early in order to reach the school and await the real substitute teaching assistant so he could get rid of them, but he also couldn’t stop thinking about Gary Barlow. It was so strange because Robbie had certainly met some incredibly attractive targets, many who would probably be considered far more so than Gary, but there was something about him that made Robbie feel so guilty for what he was to do. Was it the way he seemed to understand Robbie’s lifestyle or occupational side effects? Maybe it was his modest lifestyle and seemingly innocent nature? Or maybe it was just the fact that Robbie really liked his thighs? There were so many possibilities despite hardly knowing the man and it have Robbie a headache.

It was these thoughts that caused Robbie to drift in and out of sleep for hours until it reached 5am and Robbie simply couldn’t keep his eyes shut. So, he quietly got up and grabbed his small suitcase from under the bed before carrying it into the bathroom and shutting the door. He switched the light on and covered the foot of the door with a towel to keep the blinding light in and out of the bedroom. Robbie was then careful as he unzipped the bag and grabbed a new pair of clothing, which was simply one of his suits since male teachers always wore suits no matter where you went in the country. He then changed into it before grabbing his toothbrush and hairbrush and got to work on looking even more presentable. This didn’t take too long and he soon packed it all away again and zipped the bag up again before switching the light out and entering the room again. Robbie then placed his bag on the floor and then disappeared out the room where he could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he successfully avoided waking the other two men up.

Next thing he did was hurry down the corridor and stairs before going to go out the front door, only to hear somebody clearing their throat before he did this. He turned and found the receptionist, Ayda, stood behind the desk with that same smile on her face.

“Someone’s up early, aren’t they?” She greeted, and Robbie nodded as he approached the desk.

“I could say the same for you,” He responded, and she shook her head.

“Well I have to be up, can’t have any guests arriving with nobody to help them, can we?”

“I suppose not but not to sound rude, how often do you get people staying with you?”

“Not often, in fact, you three are the first in six months,” Ayda explained, though she didn’t seem upset or put down by this.

“And who were the last to stay?”

“Well let’s have a look, shall we?” Ayda said before turning to her computer before she began tapping away at the keyboard.

“It was Gary Barlow and then a month before that it was Mark Owen,” Ayda stated before turning back to Robbie, who raised an eyebrow at this.

“But don’t they live here?” Robbie questioned, unable to see the point in doing such a thing.

“Well truth be told, Gary stayed here because business had been slow and he felt bad, and then I do believe Mark stayed here with somebody or I thought he did anyway,” Ayda explained, and now Robbie just felt even guiltier about the killing, but also curious over Mark’s case.

“What do you mean you “thought” he stayed with somebody?”

“It’s just I thought I saw him come in with a man but then when he left the next morning, it was just him and there was no trace of this other man so I either imagined it or I missed the man leaving, though it’s quite rare that that happens since I’m constantly here and lock the doors at night.”

“Sounds like a ghost.”

“That’s what I thought!” Ayda suddenly exclaimed before covering her mouth, clearly not meaning to say it so loud.

“So if it was a ghost, what was Mark doing here all alone? But if it wasn’t, where did the man go?” Robbie said, and this just seemed to excite Ayda all the more.

“It’s like one of those old mystery novels, oh my god, I’d love to solve this one.”

“Then go ahead and do it, nobody’s going to stop you,” Robbie said before looking at the clock behind Ayda and seeing that it was past half five.

“You know what? I will, thank you Robbie.”

“Hey, how’d you know my name?” Robbie questioned, slightly alarmed due to fact that their names had not been given and weren’t registered on the system.

“I overheard your skinny friend calling you that yesterday evening before you went out.”

“Right, that makes sense, but I need to be going now so I’ll see you around,” Robbie said before stepping away from the desk.

“Where are you going so early?”

“Primary school, I’m the substitute teacher’s assistant for Gary Barlow, and I like to learn my surroundings before I start,” Robbie explained, and Ayda nodded.

“Oh you’ll love Gary, he’s such a sweetheart, never done anything wrong since he came here,” Ayda said, and Robbie could tell just how much she meant it, which was just fantastic.

“Brilliant, can’t wait.”

“Also I’m assuming you know where to go then?” Fuck, should probably find that out.

“Well I did but I’ve forgotten so could you remind me if you wouldn’t mind?” Robbie asked, and fortunately Ayda both told him and wrote it down for him before he then said goodbye and headed out into the dark morning.

It didn’t take long for Robbie to get there fortunately and once he’d arrived, he found the reception entrance made sure to hide out in the closest bush because everybody knew that there was nothing better than a good bush to hide in. It was also in this bush that Robbie realised that perhaps murder would not be the best solution because Howard has already dumped one body so another wouldn’t be great once these people’s disappearances had been noticed. So, Robbie climbed back out the bush and decided to go for plan B.

Robbie walked up to the front door and pulled out his lock picking kit, which he’d stashed away in his blazer, before getting to work and opening the door. He was quick to enter before spotting the main office door, which also he had to unlock, before entering it and sitting down at the desk at the back of the room. He then switched on the rather ancient looking computer before using the only basic knowledge he had stored away for hacking, which was probably enough due to how old the system seemed to be. 

Once inside he found the receptionists emails and located the email which had been sent to tell the school just when the substitute would be arriving, which was apparently that very morning. So, he moved onto the next step of breaking into the email account of the sender before sending off an email to the receptionist, which specified that the previous substitute was decided to be unqualified and so would be replaced by Robbie. Once he’d done this, he logged out of everything before dashing out of the building once again and diving back into the bush to avoid any chance wanderers.

He waited for over an hour before the receptionists and teachers began to arrive, including Gary, who looked just as stunning as the night before, if not more so due to his fresh and clean appearance. So basically, Robbie concluded that Gary looked good when he was tired and reading and also when he was freshly made up and in a nice suit. 

Once the coast seemed to be clear, he jumped back out and entered the building once more before approaching the receptionist’s window. He stood as the receptionist inside sat with her back to him before she seemed to sense his presence and turned around to reveal that it was Ayda.

“Oh, hello Robbie, I just finished reading the email from your boss telling me that you were coming in instead of the other girl, so just give me a moment and I will get you the visitor pass,” She greeted before turning again to begin rummaging in her desk draw.

“Silly question but don’t you work full time at the inn?” Robbie questioned, unsure of how she managed both, especially after claiming that she never missed anybody coming and going there.

“I work there full time on the weekends but I’m also part time here as well.”

“Right, so who watches the inn while you’re away?”

“This lovely young man named Chris Martin, who also works part time at the florists,” Ayda explained before she turned around with a visitor card hanging from a lanyard in her hand.

“I see,” Robbie said before he was handed the pass.

“Ok, so you’re with Mr Barlow, which is just down the corridor to the left and the door right at the bottom, got it?” 

“Got it, thanks again Ayda.”

Robbie then looped the pass round his neck before following Ayda’s directions and reaching the classroom door. He stood there for a moment, just trying to decide what to say to Gary because now he was essentially in charge of Robbie, which was a little sexy but Gary didn’t seem like the type for games. He appeared to be quite serious about his job, which was more than Robbie could say about himself.

However, he soon found some courage before raising his hand, knocking and opening the door, only it didn’t open completely. The door had opened half way before coming into contact with something hard and this something let out a pained cry. It was Gary. Robbie had just slammed the door right into Gary Barlow’s face on his first day as his substitute teaching assistance. _Well fuck._


	6. Chapter 6

So apparently, slamming the door onto your kind of boss’ face, which then turns out hit him solidly in the nose, which then started to bleed out, is not the worst thing that could happen on the first day as Robbie quickly learned from Gary’s response.

“Oh my god, I’m really sorry Robbie.” _Wait, what?_

“Um not that I’d ever question you or anything but why are _you_ apologising?” Robbie questioned, his panic quickly disappearing due to the rather unexpected response.

“I heard you knock but didn’t think to move,” Gary replied, blood continuing to fall from his nose as he reached into a blazer pocket and retrieved what appeared to be a hankie.

“Yeah but I should’ve waited for you to answer or something, also, why aren’t you freaking out? This is not exactly a great start for me,” Robbie asked as Gary proceeded to wipe away the blood but it was quite pointless as it just continued to steadily flow out.

“Because it wasn’t on purpose and worse has happened,” Gary responded as he seemed to realise that this nosebleed was not going to stop anytime soon.

“Maybe it wasn’t on purpose but-wait, what exactly has happened that’s worse than this?” 

“I once had an assistant show up completely off his head on drugs and when I had a go at him for it, he simply offered me his spare joint before remembering he’d given it to one of the children, oh and there was also the time this girl saw a piece of fluff, which she thought was a spider, on my computer screen before promptly screaming at it and punching the monitor right off my desk, but then again, that wasn’t as bad as the time I had Mark come in as a last minute thing and he got locked in one of the children’s bathroom stalls for three hours before anybody found him, and before you ask, he was in the kids’ ones because he assumed that everybody had to use them as a part of the experience,” Gary explained, deciding to just hold the hankie under the flow for the time being and Robbie was blown away because Jesus, he really wasn’t the biggest screw up for once.

“Wow, I didn’t think anything so bad could happen around these quiet places,” Robbie said, and Gary nodded slightly.

“Well, they certainly do, but I’m going to go down to the nurses so would you mind keeping watch of the classroom?” 

“Yeah totally, I mean, it’s what I’m here for,” Robbie replied before Gary gave him a quick thumbs up with his free hand and disappeared past Robbie and down the corridor.

Robbie then sighed in relief before actually entering the classroom and seeing just how small everything was. This meant that soon Robbie was going to be in the same classroom as some incredibly young students, which seemed ok due to Robbie’s own childlike tendencies. He wandered around the room for a moment before standing at the back by the windows, just taking it in. It was actually quite relaxing as well and Robbie was enjoying the peace and quiet until he nearly had a heart attack at the sound of somebody knocking on the window behind him. 

He turned to see Mark Owen stood outside with what appeared to be a bouquet of flowers. Mark waved at Robbie with a little smile on his face before gesturing for him to open the window, which Robbie soon found out, did not open but was in fact sealed around the edges. So, Robbie shook his head before gesturing to the waxy substance that surrounded the glass. Mark then followed his hand before nodding and gesturing to fire exit that was on the other side of the classroom near the entrance to the room. Robbie then nodded before making his way over to the door before waiting a moment for Mark to circle the school. Soon enough however, Mark appeared and Robbie opened the door before allowing the little man inside.

“Thank you very much, it’s absolutely boltic out the-wait a minute, I know you, you’re the tall bloke from last night, the one who was with Gaz,” Mark said as he stood in front of Robbie, staring up at him.

“Yeah, hi I’m Robbie, Howard’s mate,” Robbie greeted, and Mark seemed rather blown away by this fact.

“You know How as well?” Mark asked, and the nickname did not go unnoticed, which told Robbie that Howard and Mark had become quite attached at an alarming pace.

“I do, he’s come down here with me while I fill in for the assistant temporarily,” Robbie explained, and Mark frowned at this.

“But he’s the postman.”

“Yeah but it’s temporary like he wanted something to do until I’ve finished.” This was when Mark’s face turned into a rather sad one and Robbie felt terrible because the small man looked so adorable.

“So he’s not staying here permanently?” Mark asked, and it almost looked like he was going to cry, so Robbie decided that he had to fix it now.

“Well that’s the plan but who knows really, he seems to really like you a lot, so maybe he’ll change his mind,” Robbie said, not sure whether this made him a better person or not.

“Really?” Mark asked, his eyes lighting up.

“Definitely, I’d even go as far as to say there’s an incredibly high chance that this will happen.” _Why are you like this?!_

“Wow, that’d be something, I mean, nobody’s ever done something that life changing for me.” _Are you happy now? Look what you’ve done supplying this small man with false hope._

“Well that’s Howard for you, probably already looking for a house as we speak.” _You’re despicable._

“Well thank you for that confidence Robbie, but I suppose I should give you these now,” Mark then said before handing Robbie the bouquet.

“Um thanks but why are you giving me flowers?” Robbie questioned, and it seemed to dawn upon Mark just how bizarre the act really was.

“Oh, right, explanation, well you see Robbie, there’s this mum named Janine and she’s madly in love with Gary but he’s not really interested, so she has me make him a bouquet every day to win him over, so I’m here to deliver the seventy fifth,” Mark explained, and that was a lot to digest.

“I’m not trying to be rude here but isn’t that a little obsessive and y’know? Weird?” 

“See I thought that but she said it was for love so it wasn’t, so I just kinda went with it.”

“Right, well then if that’s everything…”

“Oh, right, don’t worry I’ll get out of here, but can you do me a favour?” _Ok this is how you redeem yourself._

“Of course, anything,” Robbie said, determined to weigh out his guilt.

“Thanks, can you tell Howard that I’m working a little later today so can he come over to fix the bed at six instead of five?” _Wow, that’s not really redemptive but it’s something._

“Sure, I’ll tell him when I’m finished here,” Robbie responded, and then Mark left, though Robbie had a feeling he would be wandering around the school grounds for a while before he actually got out.

Robbie then walked over to Gary’s desk and placed the bouquet on it just moments before Gary reappeared looking as good as he did before the bloody nose, which was a good thing. 

“Right, well school starts in half an hour so I’m just going to sort out the lesson PowerPoint and can you run next door and get me a whiteboard pen?” Gary asked as he approached the computer that sat in front of the desks.

“Yeah but are you sure you’re ok? It looked pretty bad,” Robbie questioned in response because Gary had just asked him to complete a task that involved opening another door, which could be disastrous.

“I’m fine Robbie, besides, I’ve had much more painful injuries in the past so this is nothing really,” Gary explained, and Robbie really wanted to question this but he realised he should probably get moving.

So, he rushed off out the door and knocked on the next door available but this time he waited a moment before entering. Inside Robbie saw a man sitting at his computer with a PowerPoint open which had the title “Why the Government is Using Mind Control on Your Pets” in huge letters and Robbie really wanted to ask about it because he’d always had his suspicions, but then he remembered his mission.

“Um hi, I’m Robbie, teaching assistant for Mr Barlow, and I need a whiteboard pen,” Robbie greeted, and he couldn’t help but like calling Gary that because it just really added the sexiness of his whole teacher thing.

“Hello Robbie, I’m Mr Bellamy but you can just call me Matt,” The man said as he stood up, revealing that he wasn’t that tall.

“Nice to meet you but we’re kinda rushing and need that pen, so if you wouldn’t mind?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t have any spares, I refuse to buy more than necessary because then I’d become just like every corrupt consumer out there, just playing the governments sick games,” Matt explained, and Robbie couldn’t deny the man’s wisdom any longer.

“Could you maybe elaborate on that?” Robbie wasn’t going anywhere.

*  
It was about lunch when Jason finally got the chance to sit down at the main desk for a break. He had successfully managed to get himself a job at the library that very morning and had started immediately due to there only being two employees, who were an old lady named Margaret and her best friend, Joyce. They had been running it mediocrely and it was quite slow business, much to Jason’s surprise considering this was where he spent half of his childhood and early teen years when he wasn’t out with his dance group. So, Jason had been busying himself as he started to reorganise things before he would move onto tracking down the overdue books.

“So Jason, what’s a handsome young man like yourself doing in such a quiet village?” Margaret had asked from beside him as the front desk had to be shared by the three of them.

“Well I work in a lot of cities and I just thought it would be nice to get away from it all for a moment,” Jason replied, and he became concerned when Margaret and Joyce, who had been sitting next to her at the time, looked unconvinced.

“This is about a girl, isn’t it?” Margaret questioned, and Jason mentally sighed in relief.

“Something along those lines,” Jason responded, deciding to just go along with it.

“I always know these things, don’t I Joyce?”.”

“You certainly do, but Jason dear you must tell us everything because we may be of service.”

“Well, the thing is ladies, you’re only half right because while I am having issues in that department, I’m afraid it’s over a man, not a woman,” Jason explained, figuring it would be best to stick closer to the truth to avoid any unanswerable or awkward questions.

The two ladies seemed rather taken aback for a moment before sharing a look and then turning back to Jason with warm smiles.

“Ah we see, but just in case you’re worried, Joyce and I are completely ok with you being gay, ok?” Margaret said, and Jason nodded.

“I can go other way if I’m honest but thank you all the same.”

“It’s no trouble, now tell us all about this bloke that’s been giving you trouble.”

“Well I met him through my work a few years ago and while we were never officially dating, we were just having this casual hook-up kind of thing but it was nice, y’know?” 

“Ooh Jason, that kind of news would have the whole town talking if they knew, but please go on,” Joyce said as she and Margaret had seemed rather surprised but eager to hear more.

“It went on for about a year until the other day when he called me up and said he wanted to end it because he wanted something serious and I didn’t but now he’s here with another mate of ours to keep him company and he’s only gone and jumped ship the minute he got here,” Jason continued, causing Margaret and Joyce to gasp slightly.

“I know, he comes back to the room we’re all in, just gushing about this beautiful man he saw, which was before he and our mate snuck out after lying to me, just so he could go on a date with this man but then they come back and we have this argument and that’s when he reveals that he’s already slept with this guy that he’s only known for a few hours.”

“Oh dearie me, that’s dreadful, do you know who this other man is?” Margaret questioned.

“I learned that his name is Mark Owen,” Jason replied, and the two seemed rather shocked before shaking their heads.

“Are you sure about that? Mark’s such a lovely boy, I mean he’s always coming down here and taking out the most strangest of books that we never thought he’d be interested in but he’s still such a lovely lad, never hurt a fly he would,” Joyce explained, and Jason just wanted to laugh after hearing such a thing.

“Well according to my mate, Gary Barlow told him that Mark is constantly sleeping around, which is why I’m so upset, I mean, this man I was with is allowed to do as he pleases but moving on so suddenly with such a man just hurts a lot,” Jason said, and the two looked incredibly sympathetic but also seemed to overlook everything he’d said about Mark.

“You poor dear, nobody deserves that kind of treatment, in fact, tell us this man’s name, we need to know who to look out for,” Margaret responded.

“He’s called Howard Donald, he’s temporarily filling in for the postman,” Jason explained, and then just like magic, the entrance door opened and in came Howard, dressed in his uniform.

“That’s him,” Jason whispered, and the two ladies nodded before putting on some rather serious expressions as Howard approached.

“Afternoon ladies, Jason,” Howard greeted once he’d reached the desk.

“Afternoon Howard, everything alright?” Jason questioned, deciding to play nice for the time being since he wasn’t sure just where he stood with Howard now as the two had not spoken a word to each since their argument.

“Yeah, I’ve just got some post for somebody here, I think,” Howard replied as he dug into his bag and revealed an envelope.

“You _think_ you have some post?”

“Well I looked at this letter, couldn’t find the address, so I asked somebody and they said that the person worked here before they gave me directions anyway, but then I figured I might as well just bring it straight here because it’s a lot closer,” Howard explained, and Jason wanted to question this method but Margaret spoke first.

“Excuse me but who is the letter for?” She asked.

“Um, a Margaret Birchwood,” Howard said as he glanced down at the writing on the envelope.

“That would be me dear, thank you.” She held out her hand before taking it off Howard and placing it down on the desk.

“And if you’ve finished here, we have some important work to be getting on with,” Margaret then said before giving him a thumbs up from under the desk. She was doing God’s work and preventing another awkward encounter.

“Oh, well I was hoping to speak to Jason for a minute if that would be ok?” Howard asked, and the two women looked from Howard to Jason, who nodded, before they turned back to him.

“Only five minutes, we’ve got much to show Jason.”

Jason then stood up, came out from behind the desk and gestured for Howard to follow. He led him to the back of the building and behind some shelves where they were out of sight and hopefully earshot.

“Did something happen or are you just here to bother me?” Jason questioned, folding his arms to indicate that he had no time for Howard’s bullshit.

“I just needed to talk to you about something important.” Jason had not been expecting that and so his heart began to pound because this important news could possibly damage their relationship even further, depending what it was that is.

“Right, well I’ve been working up the courage to say this all morning, but it has to be said so please know that this is coming from a good place, ok?” Jason nodded slowly in response, too afraid to even speak or throw him off.

“Jason, I need you to break into Mark’s house.” _Ok, what the fuck?_

“I’m sorry, did you just ask me to break into that little thot’s house?” Jason asked, unable to comprehend just what was being requested.

“I know it sounds really weird and creepy, but I left my phone there,” Howard explained as if this changed everything, which it kind of did, but it wasn’t the point because Howard was missing the very basic issue of the fact that he was asking Jason, his ex-fling, to break into the house of this man that he just slept with following their breakup.

“Oh, you mean the phone that contains everything about this mission and all your private contacts and files, which I always tell you to wipe clean? That phone?”

“Jay, I don’t answer unknown callers because one day some salesman is going to call me up and I’ll have no choice but to track them down and rid this world of them to regain my ability to sleep at night after such a traumatic experience,” Howard argued, but Jason wasn’t listening.

“How did you even manage to lose such a thing?” 

“I don’t know, it was in my coat pocket when I got to his last night and now it’s gone, even though my pocket was zipped up,” Howard explained, and Jason shook his head because it was so obvious.

“I’m not saying this because I’m biased or anything but Mark stole your phone.”

“That sounds fake but okay.” Jason groaned.

“No, it’s the only thing that makes sense if it’s not possible for it to have fallen out and you didn’t move it.”

“It just doesn’t sound like him.”

“You’ve known him for a day!” Jason exclaimed before realising just how loud he’d been and composing himself again.

“Look, I don’t even know why you’re asking me to do this when you have access to his house.”

“It’s just I’m going back tonight but I don’t really like sneaking around and I’d probably screw it up, and anyway, you’re so much better at this stuff than me,” Howard explained, and Jason simply sighed because damnit, Howard was being sincere and wasn’t just trying to say things to convince him.

“Alright, I’ll do it, but you owe me,” Jason said, and next thing he knew, Howard was hugging him, which was actually really nice considering they never really did anything like that.

“Thank you.”

“It’s fine, I’ve always had your back and I’m not stopping now,” Jason said quietly as he returned the embrace for a moment before they parted.

“Right, well I’ve gotta run so if you’re going today, I’m going to his at five, so you’ve got plenty of time,” Howard explained, and Jason nodded.

Then he was gone, and Jason felt the slightest feeling of warmth in his cheeks and to this, he smiled.


	7. A Big Decision

It was the end of the school day and Robbie was stood outside by the front gates with Gary as all the children went home or waited for their parents. The sun was out, much to his surprise, but it was still horrendously cold.

“So, were you planning on telling me why it took so long for you to get me that whiteboard pen?” Gary asked rather suddenly, and Robbie had not been ready for it.

Robbie had spent roughly ten minutes listening to Matt Bellamy before he realised that lessons had begun and he still didn’t have a pen. So, he’d excused himself despite how good the conspiracy was going and left. He’d then rushed to the next classroom but found it empty and so had decided to just go and ask Ayda, who just seemed like the kind of person who would have that sort of thing. Robbie had rushed into her office but she was on the phone for another five minutes before she finally handed him a whiteboard, which turned out to be empty. So, the search for a working pen began, which took another ten minutes before they finally found one. Which was when Robbie had returned, handed the pen over and had avoided any questions until that very moment.

“Nobody had any so I had to search everywhere,” Robbie explained, and he wasn’t exactly lying.

“You got distracted talking to Matt, didn’t you?” Gary said, and Robbie went to argue but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to pull one over him.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“You just look like the kind of guy who’d be interested in those kind of things is all,” Gary explained with a shrug before a child came rushing up to him, their mother following close behind, and began talking rather excitedly to him, which had caused Gary to crouch down and in doing so, showed Robbie that those thighs looked just as good pressed up against his legs.

It was then that Robbie suddenly felt as if he’d forgotten something, like he was supposed to tell somebody something but he couldn’t for the life him think of what it was. He tried relaying his day in his mind but all he could think of was his hunt for the pen, staring at Gary, learning how to actually do division, staring at Gary’s arse and then reading the note on the bouquet and being rather disturbed but also slightly turned on by the mental image it gave him. So, he was about to give up before he suddenly made the connection between the flowers and the deliverer himself. Robbie was supposed to relay that message to Howard.

So, he quickly pulled out his phone before sending a quick text to Howard and then one to Jason with the same message because Howard was terrible for checking his phone. Once he’d done that, he felt some of his guilt being lifted off his shoulders.

Robbie had done this just as the child and their mother left, which meant that it was just Gary and Robbie now as apparently everybody else had left.

“Right, well I believe this means that you are free to leave, Robbie,” Gary then said, turning to face Robbie.

“I guess so but before I do, thank you for this opportunity to help you in moulding the minds of today’s youth I suppose.” _And also thank you for allowing me to witness those thighs in some kind of action._

“I should really be thanking you for coming in, so thank you as well,” Gary said with a warm smile, and Robbie, as cliché as it seemed at the time, felt his heart skip a beat because wow, that smile was definitely something.

“It’s alright, just doing my job but as you said, it’s done for today, so I’m going to just have a wander and find something to do I suppose,” Robbie responded, and he then watched as Gary seemed to shift ever so slightly, as if he were trying to find the right words to say, before he decided to just fold his arms as he spoke.

“Well, if you want and only if you want to, I go on these evening runs every day, so since I remember you saying you were a bit of fitness man yourself, I was wondering if you’d maybe like to join me? If that isn’t weird to ask, I mean I know we’ve only just met and all,” Gary said, and Robbie spoke faster than he could think it through.

“Yeah, absolutely, I’d love to do that because I really do like a bit of exercise.” _Oh Jesus, what are you doing now?_

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have to or anything.”

“It’s fine, honestly, in fact, what time we start and where do we meet?” _Please stop with this overkill._

“Well I usually head out at about six and we can just meet at my house, probably easier,” Gary said before pulling out a notebook and pen from his blazer, proving that this man truly was ready for anything, before opening it up and writing something down, which was then torn out and handed to Robbie.

“That’s my address, shouldn’t be too hard to find,” Gary explained, and Robbie nodded as he read the address before deciding that even the handwriting was attractive. _God, can this man do anything wrong?_

“Right, well I guess I’ll see you later then?” Gary said.

“Yeah, see you later.”

Robbie then left the school grounds before making his way back to the inn where he’d have to go on a hunt for something to wear because he had not been prepared this kind of situation at all. Maybe he could borrow something off Howard since he obviously worked out because nobody looked like Howard and didn’t work out. 

However, upon considering this, he quickly realised that he’d never actually seen Howard ever work out, not even during the training years. This thought took Robbie down a dark hole where he decided that Howard was either a god or a superhuman that his employers had built to be the perfect specimen. Yeah, it had to be one of those two.

*  
It was almost five when Jason arrived outside of Mark’s house due to the fact that the library was in worse shape than he thought and needed further development. It was also because he had to find Howard to relay Robbie’s message and find out just where Mark lived. Jason was actually fortunate for Robbie’s message as this allowed him to get on with the job that day despite his late finish.

Mark’s house was small or it looked to be from the front garden, which was where Jason was stood at the time. The garden was pretty and filled with a few wild flowers and cute decorations, which Jason had not expected to find considering his reputation. Though he figured he couldn’t really make judgements as he’d never actually seen Mark clearly due to the fact that the figure he saw the night before was simply a small silhouette. 

It was dark already, which was another added bonus, and Jason was quick to approach the door and pick the lock before entering. He found himself in a little kitchen, which was lit by a lamp and was also very neat and had a few vases with flowers dotted about the room. It also seemed quite old fashioned much like the rest of the village. Jason got to work in searching the room with his phone torch as the lamp offered no real lighting. However, there was nothing there and so Jason went by instinct and decided to search the bedroom.

Jason had stepped carefully up the stairs despite there being no threat to detect him. He then checked the three upstairs doors until he found the main bedroom, which looked quite standard. There was a double bed, bookshelf, wardrobe, which Jason swore could probably fit two of his own inside, and there was also a bedside table. The room was also much like the rest of the house, decorated in a mixture of colours and oddly designed objects, such as a calendar on the wall with random symbols and crosses on different dates but no key to indicate their meaning.

The bedside table was where Jason checked first and he was surprised to find that the phone was actually there, just sitting inside the empty top draw. So, he picked it up and stuffed it in his trouser pocket before turning to leave but then he didn’t. It dawned upon him that this was the perfect opportunity to do some digging on Mark.

So, Jason spent the next ten minutes just searching the bedroom but he was disappointed to find that Mark was apparently just some average thot. All he’d found was a box under the bed with some rather private things that Jason was quick to put back because he didn’t need to know _that_ much about Mark. That box was the only unusual thing in the entire room despite the contrasting appearance that the bedroom itself gave off. The room was pretty and floral and it annoyed Jason to no end that Mark was just another guy with an expensive and cute taste.

Jason was then ready to leave but the sound of the front door opening and closing made him freeze as the sound of footsteps and a voice became very clear from just below him. It was just one voice so Jason assumed that it was just Mark and Mark alone, despite his message to Howard explaining he was working late at the shop. So, Jason did the only thing he could do, which was hide under the bed as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. These footsteps grew louder and louder until a figure, which Jason assumed was Mark, entered the room as they spoke on the phone.

“I don’t know what else you want me to do, I checked the phone but it’s empty, just personal stuff on it, which by the way, I said was all I’d find because he’s not a bad guy, he’s just really fit,” Mark said as he stood at the foot of the bed.

“Well if you’re so bothered, why don’t you do some research...? Because I can’t right now…I need to clean something up in my basement and Howard’s coming over to fix my bed later.” Jason didn’t know who Mark was talking to but it definitely didn’t sound good for Howard.

“It’s nothing, just something I forgot about that needs chucking but I’ll see you whenever because I really have to go.” Mark then hung up before chucking something heavy, most likely his coat, on the bed.

Jason then heard the small man sigh before walking to the side of the bed and opening, what he assumed was the bedside table draw. This wasn’t good news. There was then the sound of fingers tapping on the wooden surface before there was silence and the draw was shut. Mark was then quick to leave the room before returning downstairs. Jason took this as his cue to leave before rolling out from under the bed and standing up. Jason then silently crept over to the window before sliding it open and slipping out easily because after all the small vents he’d been in during his career, a window was nothing.

Once Jason had landed outside the front of house, he was quick to jump the front hedge before breathing a sigh of relief upon being safe once again. However, he was troubled by what he’d heard. Who was Mark talking to? Why did they want Howard’s phone? Were they connected to Gary Barlow and knew about the three’s mission? There was too many questions and so Jason decided it would be best to head back to the inn to think about it and talk to Robbie since Howard would be leaving soon enough and probably wouldn’t listen anyway.

Jason also decided that he was definitely going to have to break back into Mark’s house another time because he needed to know just what was in the basement that needed cleaning up. He had to know whether Mark was just a thot involved with the wrong people or a murderous thot.

*  
When Robbie arrived at Gary’s house after a few wrong turns, which were a result of the darkness and not Robbie’s lack of a sense of direction, he was already feeling rather tired out. Gary lived on the outskirts of the village and so had taken Robbie awhile to reach it from the inn. The house appeared quite small but it’s condition was unknown due to poor lighting and time of night. 

Robbie had knocked on the door before stepping back. He’d then waited a few minutes before it opened and there was Gary in his exercising gear, which consisted of a plain t-shirt, loose shorts and running trainers and that was it. So aside from the disappointment that Robbie was feeling due to Gary not wearing a single piece of tight clothing, there was also confusion. It was October and it was cold and dark, which was why Robbie had come dressed in track suit bottoms, which had been borrowed from Howard, trainers, t-shirt and one of his own comfy jackets. Oh and he’d also brought a knife and borrowed one of Jason’s pistols with the silencer on it. This wasn’t because he wanted to kill Gary but because he knew that Jason wouldn’t be so easily neutralised this time around if he didn’t do so. However, despite all this, he immediately began to reassess everything that he’d chosen due to the incredibly noticeable difference between the two’s clothing choices.

“Hello, just give me a minute to grab my water bottle,” Gary greeted before disappearing back into his house, which was unfortunately dimly lit and unrevealing.

When Gary returned, he was quick to exit the house and lock the door behind him before turning to actually face Robbie.

“I take it you get cold easily?” Gary questioned after looking Robbie up and down.

“Uh yeah? It’s October,” Robbie replied, unsure of how he was the one dressed strangely.

“I know, in fact I’m probably the odd one, aren’t I? But just to clarify, I get really hot quickly so there’s a reason for the shorts.” _I would too if I looked like that._

“Right, that makes sense.” Gary nodded to this before gesturing to the front gate behind them.

“Well then, after you I suppose.”

The two then exited the front garden and Gary began to explain his usual route, which didn’t sound too bad. A few laps around the street before doing some sprints up a hill and then to finish it off, a jog all the way to Mark’s house to make sure he’s made it home before returning. Robbie figured that the streets would be small, the hill would be no trouble and that Mark would live close and so had agreed to do it all despite Gary confirming it a few times.

So, they started off side by side and it was actually rather refreshing and nice to be outside doing something productive. In fact, he was liking it so much that he even began to ask himself why he didn’t do this more often? 

Robbie also realised as they made it halfway round the street, that perhaps this was the perfect opportunity to find out more important information before he had to kill Gary. That made sense, right? He totally wasn’t trying to talk himself out of this task at all because that would be ridiculous as Gary was just a really fit and nice guy that had never done anything wrong in his entire life and yep this was absolutely the right path to go down.

“So Gary, just wondering but have you been in many relationships or do you just prefer casual stuff?” Robbie asked, praying that Gary wouldn’t think he was prying too much when Robbie was just naturally nosey.

“Bit random but no, I’ve only ever been in a few when I was younger and then there was somebody special but that was a while ago,” Gary explained, and Robbie really wasn’t surprised because Gary definitely seemed like the kind of guy who wanted to find the one and have kids.

“What happened to this person?”

“My work got in the way and while she said she didn’t mind, I couldn’t keep leaving her behind, so I left her and we moved on with our lives,” Gary replied rather bluntly, which Robbie could tell was his own attempt to hide how much it really hurt, and he knew this because he’d always done the same thing.

“Well maybe you’ll find somebody else some day?” Robbie suggested, trying to remain positive because a sad Gary Barlow would be a thousand times harder to kill.

“I don’t know if I will but thank you anyway.”

The two then ran the rest of the first lap in silence despite the incredibly painful stitch that had appeared in Robbie’s side as they started on the second. This stitch did not go away and actually grew even more painful as they continued on. It even got to the point where Robbie had slowed down dramatically but Gary apparently had not noticed this, even when they moved onto the hill and he had to wait for Robbie to run up the hill after him every time. Then again, he probably had noticed and was just being nice about it but even after this thought, Robbie refused to give in and quit.

“Alright, last sprint and then it’s to Mark’s house,” Gary explained once Robbie had reached the bottom for the fifth time and was ready to collapse.

“Awesome.”

Robbie then watched as Gary dashed up the hill as if he hadn’t been running for the past hour without a break. He was slow to catch up before he finally ran, or more accurately, stumbled, back down for the last time and Robbie then decided that Gary just had to go for making him do that without any sympathy or pity.

“Right, Mark lives about twenty minutes away, is that alright for you or is that too much for you?” Gary asked, and it may not have been intended to be so, but Robbie definitely took that as a challenge and Robbie was not one to turn down a challenge, even if his head was spinning and he felt like he was going to pass out.

“No, that’s fine, in fact, that’s quite short for me.” _How have you managed to get this far?_

Gary smiled at this but it wasn’t a smug or mocking smile, it was like he knew that Robbie was full of shit but actually didn’t care and found it amusing in a nice way, which was odd to say the least. Most people revelled in their superiority around Robbie and would flash those smug smiles or laugh in such a condescending way that it made him feel like he wasn’t good enough or that he just shouldn’t talk because nobody was really interested. So to see such a reaction actually made Robbie feel a little warmth inside. Robbie’s sudden burst of hatred was gone now.

The two then began to jog to Mark’s house, Gary actually slowing the pace down for reasons unknown. Perhaps he wanted to stay by Robbie’s side instead of being miles ahead? Or maybe he’d simply reached his own limits? Robbie would never know.

Eventually they arrived outside Mark’s house and Gary walked up to the front door to see if Mark was ok because apparently this was a tradition of theirs. So, Robbie hung back and stood a few steps behind him, deciding that it had to be now. He had to kill Gary Barlow now or he’d never do it because he was simply too nice and good looking to kill face to face. There was also the fact that this was opportunity was too good to pass up because the darkness and the tall hedges in the garden make it perfect cover, plus if he was fast enough, he’d get it done with before Mark even got to the door and he could ditch without anybody ever suspecting him. In fact, even if Mark did show, he wouldn’t be too hard to get rid of either because he was like the size of Robbie’s leg, if that.

So as Gary knocked on the door, Robbie reached into the hidden pocket inside his jacket before pulling out the pistol because he hated using knives and Gary deserved better than a slow and painful death. 

Robbie then raised it as Gary knocked again due to the lack of life or response coming from inside the house. He pointed it at the back of Gary’s head and put his finger on the trigger. This was it, no more Gary Barlow and the end of a ridiculous job. 

Except, it wasn’t. Robbie stood there with his finger on the trigger in the perfect opportunity but he did not pull it. He physically couldn’t make himself do it no matter how hard he tried because damnit, Gary was in his head. He’d only known the guy for two days but he was the nicest person that Robbie had ever met and he just couldn’t lose that. He couldn’t lose that because nobody else had ever considered Robbie’s feelings and slowed down when it was too much but he wouldn’t admit it. Nobody had ever even smiled at Robbie like Gary did, like he wasn’t a burden and wasn’t just trying to force it on in hopes that Robbie would just shut up instead of pretending to be something he was most definitely not. 

So, he took a breath before slipping the gun away as he decided that he was not going to kill Gary Barlow. Robbie was going to protect him, no matter how much Howard and Jason tried to stop him and take him away from this village.

Robbie made this decision just moments before the door flew open and revealed a rather dishevelled Mark, who had a great big smile on his face.

“Hi Gaz, sorry about the wait, I was just with Howard,” Mark explained, and Gary shook his head at this.

“It’s alright, just making sure everything was good as usual?” 

“Yeah, it’s actually better than good if I’m honest.”

“And why’s that?” Gary asked, and Robbie could hear the concern in his voice.

“Well Howard just asked me to marry him.” 

Ok, so maybe it was only Jason he had to worry about.


	8. The End of a Friendship

Robbie of course didn’t really know much about Gary on a personal level, but he figured that his reaction to the news would probably be considered as over the top or dramatic. However, Robbie knew Jason, who had layers and layers to wear down before you reached the worst of it and so, just one look at Gary told Robbie that he was dealing with another Jason and so _he_ considered it to be rather rational and light for what he was probably capable of.

“He what?!” Gary exclaimed at a level that made Robbie and Mark wince slightly.

“Um he just proposed to me about ten minutes ago,” Mark explained as if the rephrasing changed everything.

“And what did you say?” Gary questioned with frustration in his voice.

“Well I said yes…obviously,” Mark said, muttering the last part and crossing his arms, clearly not enjoying the negative response he was receiving.

“Excuse me? Just who or what gave you the idea that you should marry somebody you’ve known for two days?” When Gary said it out loud, it sounded completely crazy, but Robbie still felt that he understood Mark because while Robbie had only known Gary for two days, he would most definitely ask him to marry him if the opportunity arose.

“Nobody _gave_ me the idea Gaz, I just really like Howard and decided that I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“And just what about him do you like, Mark? What have you learned in these two days that told you he’d be a good lifetime partner?” 

“Well, I think he’s really fit, like his biceps are huge but also strangely soft, and he’s also really tall, has a nice arse that doesn’t outshine mine and he’s into the same kinky stuff I’m into, which also reminds me, you won’t believe how big-”

“Ok, I’m going to stop you there because not one of those things sounds like a reasonable explanation for marriage,” Gary said, and Robbie was taken aback because literally every one of those things sounded like a perfectly good reason for spontaneous marriage considering the really fit body was ninety percent of Gary’s marriage appeal in Robbie’s eyes since it certainly wasn’t the torturous exercise.

“Are you trying to say that there’s supposed to be other things that contribute into this kind of decision?” Mark asked, obviously just as confused as Robbie.

“Jesus Christ Mark, yes, there are a lot of other things actually.”

“Like what?”

“Like whether he has a stable job or if he can actually treat you well no matter what happens, or if he’ll stick by you, even if you’re at your lowest and don’t see yourself coming back from it the same, _those_ are the other things, ok?” Gary explained, and the frustration and passion that was in his voice told Robbie that perhaps Gary was hiding a whole other side to him that wasn’t as strong as he appeared on the outside.

“Those are some very specific things that I haven’t really had the time to ask.”

“Well why don’t you tell him to come here and then you can ask him?” Gary suggested, and Mark nodded before turning around.

“How? Can you come here?” He called, and then there was silence for a moment until Howard appeared at the doorway rather suddenly.

“How, this is my best friend, Gary Barlow, he wants to know if you have a stable job and whether you’ll leave me if I’m like _really_ depressed and don’t come back the same?” Mark said, covering a lot of ground in one go, but it took Howard a moment to respond as he stood and watched Gary for a moment, most likely studying him, since this was his first real interaction with him, and deciding whether he could take him on hand to hand since Howard preferred that method if it was available. 

However, Robbie then watched as Howard’s gaze shifted to him and there was a rather questioning look and so Robbie shook his head slightly, which Howard responded to by turning back to Gary and finally replying.

“I am the postman as you may be aware, which I believe to be a rather stable job and no, I will not leave Mark in a depressive pit of despair,” Howard said, and there was a rather tense moment of silence before Gary shook his head.

“I’m sorry but this is just too ridiculous, you can’t just marry somebody you don’t even know, even if they are attractive and say nice things, so I think you should just call this off now,” Gary responded in a tone that sounded final, in fact it sounded so final that Robbie assumed that Mark would back down and accept it, which would then allow Robbie to leave because his body was now remembering just how painful that run had been, however, that didn’t happen as Mark was then quick to clutch onto one of Howard’s arms.

“I’m not doing that Gaz, I love Howard and want to marry him,” Mark stated confidently, which Robbie assumed was unusual due to Gary’s body tensing up.

“What?” Gary asked as if he needed to make sure that this was actually happening.

“I’m not doing what you tell me anymore, I am not a child and can make my own grown up decisions.” Robbie almost laughed at this because Mark certainly didn’t seem like the kind of guy who had a clue on how to live like a functioning, independent adult, but then he didn’t because Robbie realised that he also had no idea how to do that either.

“So within the last day, you’ve learned how to get around this town without getting lost every second and how to actually cook?” Gary questioned, and Mark seemed thrown off by this.

“Well no but that doesn’t matter because I’ll learn and I’ll do it with Howard.”

“Right, fine, do what you like Mark because I’m fed up with you taking advantage of our friendship just so you don’t have to grow up like the rest of us, so best of luck to you and don’t come crying when he leaves town soon,” Gary announced before turning on his heel and marching out the front garden, which almost left everyone in an awkward silence, but Robbie was not having another of those and so spoke up quickly.

“Uh can I speak to you for a minute How?” Robbie asked, and Howard nodded before leaning down to Mark’s ear and whispering something.

Robbie then watched as Mark nodded and disappeared back inside the house as Howard stepped outside fully and shut the door. There was a strange atmosphere around the two as they stood taking in everything that had just happened and decided just what to ask first. However, it quickly disappeared as Howard let out a rather tired sigh as he lent back against the door, his head hitting it with a thud.

“I suppose we’re both screwed, aren’t we?” Howard said, and Robbie didn’t respond immediately as he wasn’t sure just what Howard meant because yes, his engagement was rather sudden, but there were plenty of assassins in relationships, it was just that they were other assassins. He was also confused as to how he was in trouble, or at least how he knew that Robbie was in trouble for his recent decision.

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, I can’t say I know any assassins with non-assassin partners, so I’m screwed and so are you because you’ve ditched the job,” Howard explained as he folded his arms.

“Why do you think I’ve done that?” Robbie questioned, unsure of why he was playing dumb considering Howard had no reason or right to get mad after his own actions.

“Because you basically told me not to go after Gary Barlow earlier.”

“Well Mark was there, I didn’t really think it was appropriate.” 

“I could’ve asked to speak to Gary alone.”

“I mean yeah but I still didn’t want to risk it.”

“You’re a shit liar Rob, just admit you like Barlow and we’ll move on with our lives.” _Well, he’s got you there._

“Alright fine, I think he’s nice and really fit,” Robbie said with a groan, which made Howard smile.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? We’ve been here two days and already want to change our whole lives for somebody we hardly know, but also completely understand.”

“Yeah, I’m calling witchcraft,” Robbie replied as he put his hands into his jacket pockets.

“Maybe it’s just love at first sight.”

“Always the romantic, aren’t you?” Robbie said with a smile.

“And you’re a pessimist when it comes to yourself.”

“Not wrong there,” Robbie responded before an important question came to mind.

“So does this mean that you’re not going to kill Gary then?” He questioned, feeling a sense of comfort come over him at the thought of only having to fend off Jason, who was the equivalent of five assassins due to his rather extensive skill set.

“Are you mental? Of course I’m gonna kill him,” Howard replied, instantly stripping Robbie of all hope.

“What? Why? I thought you were turning over a new leaf or something?” Robbie asked, unable to see what else this marriage could have symbolised.

“I am, I’m done after this one because I can’t risk leaving Mark alone all the time when I have such a dangerous job, but I need some extra points to convince the big bosses to let me leave and actually be with him.”

“I mean I understand why but you literally just pointed out that I really like Gary and won’t kill him, but you’re still going to murder him? In fact, it’s not even just me that you’re betraying, Gary is Mark’s _best friend_ and you’re just going to kill him?” Robbie argued, deciding that the only hopeful tactic at this point was guilt tripping.

“I think you mean ex best friend considering you also just watched them essentially end their friendship, so really, I’m doing Mark a favour.”

“You don’t just _kill_ people because you fell out with them,” Robbie responded, his tone becoming increasingly frustrated.

“You can when they’re being unreasonable,” Howard said, his own voice remaining calm.

“I don’t think he's being unreasonable, I mean, yeah, I understand why you’d just want to marry somebody that beautiful on the spot, but Gary and Mark have been mates for a while, so he’s just worried because no offence, but you have just randomly showed up, took the postman’s job and now you’re marrying the friend of the target, who has some kind of link to our organisation.”

“No, I think Gary was just scared of losing his control over Mark, who's been living under his rules for too long.”

“You’re acting like he’s some kind of dictator.”

“Because he basically is.”

“Uh but he’s not, he’s just trying to help his bloody clueless mate in hopes that he’ll learn instead of just ditching him the minute someone better comes along to do it instead.”

“Look, we could do this all night but I’d rather not because I’m just going to have to do this whole evening all over again when Jason finds out, so if you wouldn’t mind, could you please leave?” Howard said, and Robbie could not believe what was happening, Howard was kicking him off the property because his argument wasn’t as good as Robbie’s.

“Wow, alright then, I’ll go but don’t expect any back up when Jason rips your throat out tomorrow,” Robbie said, but Howard shook his head.

“I don’t need it because I’m not afraid of Jason, unlike you,” Howard responded as he leant forward off the door.

“You are but you’re slightly less so than me because you used to fuck him is all, you’ve seen his vulnerable side, which is unfair really,” Robbie pointed out, and Howard actually scoffed at this.

“I think you’ve got him all wrong, Jason isn’t _vulnerable_ when it comes to sex, he’s incredibly in control when he wants to be.” _Shit, now you look like an idiot._

“Well whatever, my point is, you’re closer to him so you know him better so you aren’t as scared because he also knows you really well and what you’re capable of.” _Not the most elegant save but you tried._

“Right, well anyway as I was saying, I’m not scared so please leave so I can finish what I started before you two showed up.”

“This is a new low, kicking me out because you’re wrong and want sex, I'm appalled Howard.”

“And I am deeply wounded,” Howard said bluntly before Robbie shook his head at him.

“Right well I suppose I’ll go then, so congratulations because I’m actually happy for you two and really want to attend and be your best man, but that doesn’t change my stance on this discussion, so goodbye How,” Robbie then said before turning on and his heel and marching out of the garden and down the street.

As Robbie walked down the dimly lit streets towards the inn, he came up with a plan. He had realised that since they had been booked in for two weeks, this meant that they only had two weeks before the contract was presumably terminated and they were sent home. This was good because it meant that Robbie only had to protect Gary from Howard, who was an incredibly strong, agile and professional killer, and Jason, an extremely agile and smart professional killer who was currently constantly pissed off by Robbie and Howard. Yes, this would be very simple. Then all he had to do was stay behind in the village as the company realised that if the three couldn’t kill Gary, nobody could and so abandon their quest and move onto bigger threats, allowing Robbie to quit with enough money to last a lifetime and the rest of his life to woo Gary, get with him and his thighs before then marrying him and having lifetime access to the most emotionally positive relationship of his life, which would also just happen to include incredibly hot sex with a teacher, who had godlike thighs. 

Yes, this was the plan and everything would work out fantastically without Gary ever having to find out that he’d been sent to kill him from the very start.


	9. A Fine

When Howard awoke the following morning with Mark clinging to him, he realised that he was not at the inn, which was where he’d planned to go back to. He then remembered that he’d decided to stay at Mark’s after the sex, partly because he was too exhausted but also because despite his big words the night before, he actually _was_ a little scared of Jason and what he’d say about the proposal. In fact, Howard was twice as scared as he had been before Robbie left because this meant that Robbie had gone back and had most definitely told Jason before he had the chance to himself, which meant that Jason was going to furious over the marriage and because Howard hadn’t told him himself.

“I thought you’d be gone,” Mark said rather sleepily, pulling Howard away from his thoughts.

“Why would I ever leave somebody so beautiful?” Howard responded, making Mark smile and tighten his grip around Howard’s back as he tried to hug him.

“Y’know? I think this is the first time in years that I’ve actually been able to wake up when I wanted to,” Mark then said, and Howard raised an eyebrow despite Mark being unable to see this from below.

“And why is that?” Howard questioned, which then caused Mark to roll over onto his back beside Howard.

“Because Gaz usually wakes me up early because I “have a job” and “need to open it on time” because “you wrote it on the door”, like come on, nobody actually reads the shop opening times,” Mark replied.

“Wow, did he actually let you do anything on your own?” Howard asked as he turned onto his side to look at Mark from a better angle.

“Well, he never bothered me at work but I suppose that’s just because he has a job too, but aside from that, he usually just lets me get on with everything but just kept checking up on me and stuff,” Mark explained, and Howard was rather taken aback, just what made Gary believe him to be so incompetent?

“And here I was thinking that Jason was overbearing sometimes,” Howard said, not realising the mistake he’d made until Mark also turned onto his side and pulled that adorably puzzled face that he’d made only the night before, as it took him a few moments to realise why Howard had gotten on his knee.

“Who’s Jason?” _Oh fuck._

“Uh he’s the new librarian here but he’s also my sort of my ex,” Howard responded, hoping that this didn’t change anything somehow.

“How's he sort of your ex?”

“Well we used to just be like friends with benefits but I broke it off because I wanted something more.”

“So why’s he here?” Dear god there were a lot of questions.

“Because he’s also mates with Robbie and was asked along,” Howard explained, but Mark appeared to become even more puzzled.

“Who’s Robbie?” He asked despite having told Howard all about his encounter with him the day before when he went to deliver the flowers.

“The substitute teacher.”

“Ooh yeah, he’s the one who likes Gaz,” Mark responded, seeming to be incredibly excited by this as his eyes practically lit up.

“Yep, that’s the one.”  
“Isn’t it just really crazy how we’re all finding true love in such short time? It’s almost like fate brought us together.” And while Howard knew the reason behind the visit, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was all just fate leading them to each other.

Following that comment, the two spent another ten minutes together, just talking until Howard decided that really did need to get up and go to the post office to retrieve the post for the day. So, he shared a kiss with Mark before getting up and ready.

He was out the door in fifteen minutes before he began his trek to the post office, which was hidden on the outskirts of the village. Fortunately it wasn’t too far from Mark’s house and so when he eventually arrived inside the small building, which only consisted of a few rooms, the reception, the bathroom and the mail room, he was ready to make the journey around the village once again. 

The first thing he did was grab the messenger bag for the letters from behind the front desk, which was currently empty, before heading into the mail room behind it. The room was small and square with only some shelves to hold the packages and then the giant pile of letters in the middle of it all. Howard assumed that somebody was supposed to organise them but they were like that when he first arrived and so assumed that person wasn’t him. 

So, Howard then repeated his actions from the day before and reached into the pile, grabbed as many as he could before stuffing them into his bag and closing it. He then turned to leave but was halted by the sound of somebody sneezing. He froze and waited a moment for another sound, but it never came and so he decided it was all in his head and put a foot forward to leave.

“Bless me I suppose, you knobhead,” Howard heard a rather thick northern voice say, causing him to spin back around.

“Uh is somebody there?” Howard questioned, unable to see anybody in the room.

“Obviously,” The voice replied rather rudely.

“Well where are you then?” Howard asked, and there was a long sigh before the pile of letters began to move, letters falling until a face emerged from inside the pile, the face of a young man, who seemed rather puzzled by Howard’s presence.

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“What does it look like?” 

“Where’s Greg?” The head asked, which led Howard to assume that Greg was the last postman.

“He retired,” Howard lied, hoping it would be convincing enough considering how old he appeared to be when he killed him.

“So you’re what? His replacement?”

“Yeah but enough about me, who are you and what are you doing in the pile of letters?” Howard questioned, unable to ignore this anymore.

“I’m Oli and my mates and I are the one's who sort the mail.”

“Right, well I can see you’ve done a good job at screwing that up.”

“Excuse me mate but we were doing our jobs just fine until you came along.”

“What the hell have I done?”

“You just come in here, scoop up any random letters, pop off and then leave us to sort it all again,” Oli argued, but Howard wasn’t following in the slightest.

“I honestly don’t see how I’m ruining this mess.”

“This _mess_ is an organised system, everyone is in a spot to grab specific letters, ready to hand to you on the day they’re supposed to arrive,” Oli explained, but Howard didn’t believe it for one second.

“Really? Then hand me a letter for Mark Owen,” Howard demanded, but Oli shook his head.

“Can’t, he doesn’t get mail.”

“What do you mean he doesn’t get mail? Everyone gets mail.”

“I mean that since he’s moved here, we’ve not had a single letter or package for him,” Oli replied rather impatiently, and Howard was rather taken aback by this for a moment because that really was bizarre, but then he decided to leave it for another time because he needed to sort Oli out.

“Fine, then give me a letter for Gary Barlow,” Howard said, and almost immediately after he said it, a hand appeared from another side of the pile with a letter, which Howard snatched up and found it was actually for Gary. He was stunned into silence.

“Do you understand now just how much work you’ve undone?” 

“Yeah, I’m really sorry about all this.”

“Good because my friends and I work day and night to make this work,” Oli responded, and it was then that Howard actually clicked that Oli had been speaking of these “friends” throughout the whole conversation, but he hadn’t actually seen them yet.

“I see but where are these friends anyway?” 

“Right here,” Oli said before the pile began to shake some more and three more faces emerged from difference spots, which thoroughly confused Howard as the pile did not seem big enough to fit so many people.

“These are my mates, Jordan, Matt, Lee and Matthew,” Oli explained before a few hands emerged and waved at Howard, who waved back hesitantly as he felt as if he was dealing with aliens. He also then noticed that there were four names but only three new heads.

“Where’s the last one? I’m only counting three heads,” Howard questioned, scared that perhaps the last one was dead or lost in the pile.

“Oh right, hold on, Matthew!” Oli called out, and there was the sound of something rattling above the group before a ceiling tile was removed and a head appeared.

“What?” The head, who was apparently Matthew, asked.

“Nothing mate, just introducing everyone to the new postman.”

“Is this the tosser who’s been messing with the system?” 

“Yeah but don’t worry, we’ve sorted him out.”

“Good,” Matthew then said before disappearing and sliding the tile back into place.

“Right, well you best be off while we sort out the evening post.”

“Right.” And Howard was gone again.

*  
It was around one in the afternoon and Jason was sat at the front desk, typing away on a word document. He was writing out a set of new rules for the library because apparently, the library had no rules set down, well, it had _one_ rule if you could count Margaret’s singular sheet of paper on the front door that said, “the only rule is to learn!” in big, Arial black letters with a little clipart caterpillar reading underneath it, which Jason did not. In fact, he had made a rather extensive list but most were little things that he didn’t expect would happen but felt comforted by having them written down. The major ones, such as no eating, drinking and running had already been printed and placed all over the building. 

Jason was actually so absorbed in his work that he didn’t notice the small figure standing in front of the desk until they cleared their throat. Jason had then slowly turned his head to look at the small man stood there before removing the pair of reading glasses he’d been wearing and placing them on the desk.

“Hi, can I help you with anything?” Jason greeted with a friendly smile as the small man seemed rather nervous.

“Um yeah, I wanted to return these,” The man responded, revealing that he had been holding a few books as he placed them on the desk and slid them towards Jason.

“No problem, I just need your library card,” Jason said as he took the books and opened the first one to check the date, which was apparently issued five years ago.

“Right, just let me find it,” The man replied as he began to search his coat pockets and Jason looked between him and the date inside the book.

“Um sir, when you took this out, did the librarian on duty stamp it?”

“Uh I don’t know, I can’t really remember.” The small man said before pulling out a rather old looking library card with a victorious look on his face as he did so.

“Here you go.” And Jason thanked him as he took the card from his rather little hand and slid it through the card reader.

Jason then almost fell off his chair and did a double take as he read the document that came up on his screen, which listed the four books in front of him as overdue by a variety of years. He was then quick to look at the man in bewilderment because this innocent looking man had just come into his library with some incredibly overdue books without a care in the world.

“I’m sorry but just what game are you playing at?” Jason questioned, his sudden change of tone making the little man jump slightly.

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re books are overdue by a number of years,” Jason explained, and the man seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking his head.

“That doesn’t sound right.” 

Jason then immediately turned his screen to show the man, who then seemed just as surprised as Jason was to see the dates.

“Gardening For Beginners, three years late, Top Locations to Escape Work, five years late, The Cat in the Hat, three years late, and finally, Knitting For Amateurs, almost _six years_ late.”

“Well I just kept forgetting, I’m a very busy man,” The man tried to explain but Jason didn’t believe a word of it.

“Just who the hell are you that makes you think you can just come in here and act like you’ve not committed a serious offence?” 

“Well I’m Mark, the florist.” And that was when Jason froze for a moment as his mind registered just who he was dealing with.

“Mark Owen?”

“Yes?”

“The same Mark Owen who slept with Howard Donald?” And Mark gasped at this.

“You know How?” 

“I do, quite well in fact,” Jason replied, trying his best not to just stand up and stab the little thot right there and then because if he did that, that would mean he was jealous, which he most certainly was not.

“Wow, maybe you’ll be invited to the wedding and this whole thing will just be a crazy story about how we know each other,” Mark responded, and Jason was going to explain that “this whole thing” was a serious discussion over Mark’s offence to the library, but then he realised something.

“What wedding?” Jason asked, alarm bells going off inside his head.

“Oh right, we’ve not told anyone yet, but Howard and I are engaged,” Mark explained, and for a moment, Jason thought he was having some terrible nightmare because almost all of his worst fears were coming true.

“Since when?” Jason questioned, deciding that until he had all the specifics, this was not happening.

“Since last night when he proposed to me.”

“Where’s the ring?”

“I ate it.” _Ok, this must be a nightmare._

“I’m sorry, you ate it?” 

“Yeah,” Mark replied as if this was something he did often.

“Why did you eat it?”

“Because I got hungry on the way here?” Mark explained before something appeared to dawn upon him when he looked at the rather disgusted and perplexed expression on Jason’s face.

“It was a Haribo ring by the way.”

“He proposed to you with a Haribo ring?”

“Well it was kind of a spur of the moment thing so he didn’t have a real one.”

“But he just happened to have a Haribo ring?”

“Not just any Haribo ring, a _strawberry_ ring.”

“I see but if you don’t mind me saying Mark, I think you should maybe reconsider this decision,” Jason said, and Mark’s face dropped.

“Why?”

“Because you’ve only known Howard for about three days?” 

“God, you sound just like Gary.”

“Gary Barlow?”  
“Yeah, he was my best friend but we had an argument last night over this and I think I may have ended our friendship forever, which kinda sucks because I was going to invite him and his boyfriend out to celebrate, but I guess I can’t do that now.”

“I’m sorry, I’m lost again, who is this boyfriend?”

“Oh, I don’t know him really well but his name is Robbie I think, he only got here a few days ago with Howard and his ex, but they’ve kinda been joined at the hip so I just assumed they were dating,” Mark explained, and Jason found himself once again absolutely furious at both Howard and Robbie.

“Right and has Howard told you anything about his ex?” Jason then asked, deciding to see just how much Howard had told Mark in case he’d exposed too much, and not because he wanted to see if he’d said anything bad about him.

“Well he didn’t really get specific but he sounded kind of mean, but yeah, he just said that they used to be like friends with benefits, he’s called Jason and he works here, which reminds me, I never caught your name?” Mark explained, and Jason simply responded by pointing to the nametag on his chest before watching the colour drain out of Mark’s face.

“Oh, um, I’m really sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, Howard is an adult and can do and say what he wishes, now, what I really want to know is whether you’d like to pay your fine in full or instalments?” 

“What fine?”

“Your late fee, which has come to about three hundred pound,” Jason explained, which actually a lie as the fine was about a hundred pound less, but Jason had added it on for the emotional stress that Mark had brought.

“Oh, I didn’t think I’d actually have to pay a fine.”

“And why is that? Just what puts you above the law?” Jason questioned, unable to believe such arrogance.

“Because everyone usually just lets me off.”

“Well I’m not everyone, am I?”

“I suppose not,” Mark muttered, hanging his head low.

“So how do you wish to pay then?”

“Um I suppose I’ll just do it in full but it’ll have to wait until tomorrow because I keep all my money in a safe place.”

“I see, well just make sure you come back or you’ll have to pay even more.”

“Ok then,” Mark replied rather glumly before turning and making his way out of the building.

“I can’t believe that that little law breaking thot and I both meet Howard’s standards,” Jason said to himself as he shook his head and returned to his computer.

However, Jason did not return to his work but instead began to form a plan to break back into Mark’s house before he returned the following day. He had a lot of questions and the answers were obviously in Mark’s basement, which he presumed was the suspicious sounding “safe place” he’d spoken of. He had to do this because Mark was most definitely not what he seemed and was possibly putting Howard in danger and not because he was jealous. No, not one bit.


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a couple of days since Robbie had seen Gary outside of the school when he entered the building on Friday morning. The last he’d seen of him outside was on the Monday evening when he’d ended his friendship with Mark and then he just seemed to disappear when he wasn’t at work. Well, disappear was probably the wrong word considering Robbie had been camping out in a rather uncomfortable tree behind Gary’s house in order to protect him from any harm as Jason and Howard would most definitely come in from the back. Robbie wanted to visit him properly and see if he was ok but he just didn’t feel like he really had that relationship yet because while yes, Robbie and Gary had been growing closer to the point that Gary actually seemed to almost go out of his way to talk to Robbie, it still felt more like a basic friendship sometimes.

“Morning Robbie,” Ayda greeted as he passed through the reception, and he made sure to give her a wave as he did so before making his way to Gary’s classroom.

The classroom was empty aside from Gary, who was standing at the window that looked out onto the front of the school’s grounds. It was a rather odd sight considering there was hardly anything to look at but Robbie understood that Gary was clearly a troubled mind and so shrugged it off before approaching him. 

“Morning Gary,” Robbie greeted as he stood beside Gary, who jumped slightly the moment he opened his mouth.

“Oh morning Robbie, didn’t hear you come in,” Gary responded, turning to face Robbie, who then noticed that he was wearing his glasses.

“Well I was being quiet because you seemed like you were thinking about something important,” Robbie said, and Gary nodded.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about Mark really.” _Of course._

Robbie didn’t know much about how Mark’s life had been going since his friendship breakup with Gary, but he did know that Howard had been with him quite a bit since Monday due to the fact that he’d been hiding at Mark’s house instead of returning to the inn. Robbie knew it was because he was scared of Jason and didn’t want to tell him about the proposal, despite his words of confidence during their own argument. It was also most likely because Howard would have assumed that Robbie had told Jason about it himself, which would have then enraged Jason further. However, Robbie had done no such thing because he was waiting for the right moment to do so because the longer he left it, the angrier Jason would become, therefore creating a tension between the two so powerful that Jason would hopefully be too distracted with Howard to think about Gary. 

“Are you two still not speaking?” 

“No.”

“Are you ok with that?” Robbie asked, and Gary’s mouth opened almost instantly, as if he were going to brush it off but then he simply sighed before shaking his head.

“No, I miss him really, like he’s massive pain in the arse and I know that I probably didn’t really improve anything by constantly doing everything for him and checking on him, but I just don’t understand how he could just push me aside for a guy he’s known for a day so quickly after everything we’ve been through together,” Gary explained as he turned back towards the window.

“Sounds like you guys had a really strong friendship.”

“Oh yeah, Mark and I go way back, we went to school together, we worked together and we moved out here together, we did everything together and now he’s just dropping me like it all meant nothing.”

“Were you always looking after Mark or is was it just a recent thing?” 

“I suppose so but it was never like this, like back at school he got picked on a bit for a few reasons but I had his back and then when we worked together, he was alright, still a bit all over the place but overall, he had everything under control and seemed happy but something just snapped one day, or maybe it had long before I noticed but next thing I know, he’s got this massive drinking problem, like the kind that could kill a man at any point, but fortunately I found out in time and we were quick to get some help.” Gary said, and hearing this caused Robbie to think back to own lonely nights where alcohol seemed like his only friend.

“Is that why you came out here? To help Mark get better?”

“Partially, Mark came out here on his own after he decided to resign because that was probably the cause for the problem in the first place, but the reason I’m here is entirely different.”

“I’m guessing it’s a private thing then?”

“Yeah, I don’t really like to talk about it, sorry.”  
“Hey that’s alright, none of my business anyway.” _But I still really want to know because I’m a nosy git._

It was then that the bell rang out and signalled that the conversation was officially over as the sound of children was then heard from outside the door.

“Right, well I suppose we better get to the work then,” Gary said before turning and making his way to the classroom door in order to greet the class.

For the next half an hour, Gary stood at the front of the classroom and taught the children as usual while Robbie hung around at the back until it was time for the children to start the work. Robbie was then finally put back into action as a few of the kids at the back asked for his help, which had been nice considering they had been very quiet around him at the beginning of the week.

“Mr Williams, I don’t know how to do this,” The little brunette, who Robbie had come to know as Juliet, said as she pointed to the multiplication sum on her sheet.

“I see, you’re in need of my expertise,” Robbie responded as he crouched beside her.

“No, Mr Barlow is busy,” She explained but with a smile that told Robbie she was just playing around with him.

“Alright, I get it, he’s just far too smart, isn’t he?” 

“Yes but I also want to help you Mr Williams,” She said, and Robbie nodded knowingly.

“I see, thank you very much, but just how do you plan to help me?” Robbie asked, playing along.

“By making you seem really smart for helping me so Mr Barlow will go out with you.”

The reason for this sudden explanation came from Juliet’s apparent “superpowers” that told her when two people were meant to be, which had led to Robbie expressing that he did in fact like Gary and so it was now Juliet’s mission apparently to make Gary like him back, or at least get him to confess.

“That’s really kind of you Juliet, I’ll do my best to seem smart for you.”

Robbie then proceeded to help Juliet as the sums were of course rather simple. This then led to Juliet standing up and holding up her sheet in victory.

“I finished Mr Barlow!” She exclaimed, which caused Gary to look up from the desk he was crouched by as he also attempted to help another student.

“Well done Juliet, you’ll be teaching the class in no time,” Gary said before Juliet sat down again.

“Thank you but you have to let Mr Williams teach as well because he helped me loads since he’s really smart,” Juliet explained, and Gary looked at Robbie for a moment, a warm smile on his face as he did so, before turning back to Juliet and nodding.

“Of course, he’ll be just as good as you I’m sure,” Gary said before turning back to the student he was with, and while Robbie knew he was just playing along with Juliet, he also couldn’t help but wonder if he truly felt that Robbie would be a good teacher.

“Ok, I think it’s time Mr Williams, I think he’s realised just how much you need to get married,” Juliet then stated, and Robbie pulled a pretend shocked face.

“You really think so? I mean, it’s only been a few days since you began your work.”

“Trust me, I know love when I see it.”

“Well, if you’re sure but what do you think I should say to him?”

“Ask him out for tea because everyone likes food.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong about that.”

“Also, you’re not going to be here for much longer so you’ve got to do it soon.”

“Alright then, I’ll ask him when I get the chance,” Robbie said as if it were that simple and like he wasn’t petrified of doing so.

“Good because I’m counting on you to show my mum that I really do have superpowers.”

“Ok, I will most definitely do it then.”

Robbie then looked across at Gary once more, only to find him already looking at him and the two locked eyes for a moment before hastily looking away again. However, something about that moment just gave Robbie the confidence and he decided that yes, he was going to ask Gary out before it truly was too late.

*  
It was roughly 4pm when Howard arrived outside the rather desolate house on the edge of the village. It was a singular letter belonging to somebody called Matt Bellamy and was his last delivery of the day and so he was looking forward to delivering it so he could go back to Mark’s and just relax for a bit before they inevitably had some mind blowing sex.

So, Howard approached the door and went to put the letter through the letterbox but he was only met with mockery. The letterbox wouldn’t open despite there being no signs of tampering. Howard tried again and again to pry it open but there was no success. Howard then decided to get down onto his knees to get a better look at it and what he saw after doing so was something sticky leaking out from the bottom. The substance looked like super glue and had obviously been there for quite a while as it seemed incredibly dried up and old. The discovery was frankly quite disgusting because what lunatic would seal off the letterbox with any intentions other than to play a cruel trick on the postman? This left Howard with two choices, either put the letter on the floor and leave or bang on the door as loud as possible and confront the fiend. Howard opted for the latter.

When he knocked on the door with all the might he could conjure up, he didn’t have to wait long for the door open up. He believed that he’d really given the guy a fright due to the fact that when he opened the door, it was still on its chain and the man’s face was all that was exposed. 

“Yes?” The man questioned, who Howard assumed was Matt Bellamy, with a rather stern look on his face despite his non-threatening appearance.

“Uh you have a letter but I suppose you wouldn’t have known that considering you’ve glued the letterbox shut for a joke, which I think is in bad taste,” Howard explained, and the man seemed rather puzzled by this.

“It isn’t glued shut for a joke, I mean how sad and twisted do you think I am?” Matt replied, and when Howard stared at the man for a moment in an attempt to find a lie, he felt terrible because he actually seemed sincere.

“Sorry, did somebody else d-”

“It’s glued shut because I don’t trust the postal service.” _Wait, what?_

“I’m sorry but why don’t you trust the post?”

“Because the government is hijacking it and using it to gather personal information on everybody.”

“And if that’s even true, how do you know this?”

“I’m not telling you just so you can run off and tell them of my location and secrets.”

“Mate, first of all, don’t attack the deliverer of post, we don’t know where the stuff comes from and two, I think they already know where you live considering I’m here with this letter.”

“I will attack you because you’re all apart of this organisation so don’t play dumb with me and also, they don’t know my location because I’m not accepting the post, so if I’m not accepting it, how can they prove I live here? I might be ten thousand miles away for all they know,” Matt explained as if he were the superior one here but all Howard saw was a nutjob.

“But you are here, I’m literally standing right in front of you,” Howard responded bluntly.

“Yes but they don’t know that and you can’t prove it without photographic or video evidence, which you do not have.” Howard sighed.

“Look, you can think what you wanna think but I really need you to just take this one letter so I can go home, you can burn the bloody thing for all I care,” Howard said, holding the letter out hopefully.

“No, I can’t accept that.”

“Please mate, I just wanna see my partner.”

“Sorry, I can’t risk exposing myself.”

“Oh my god, the government isn’t coming for you mate, you have nothing that’s even worth their interest I’m sure.”

“You have no idea what you’re even talking about you mindless slave, I have things that the government kill people just because they know it exists.”

“Take the letter.”

“No.”

“Take it or I’ll leave it here.”

“No.”

“Right, I’m leaving it here.”

“If you do that, I’ll no choice but to retaliate.”

“Right, well I’ll keep that in mind,” Howard said before going to place the letter on the floor but then stopping upon hearing another voice call out from inside the house, which caused Matt to turn around, yell something back, before turning back to Howard.

“Wait one moment,” Matt said before shutting the door.

Howard was then going to just leave the letter but then he saw Matt stood by a window to his left, which was probably the living room or something, with a singular finger up, indicating to wait a minute. 

However, Howard was too frustrated to do this and so he leant down and dropped the letter on the door mat before standing back up. Only when he did this, he almost had a heart attack as within this short space of time, the front door had been opened completely and there stood a rather tall and muscular man. This man was roughly Howard’s height, had short brown hair and tanned skin, as well as appearing to be in good shape. 

“Hi, Matt told me to wait here and make sure you don’t leave,” The man explained, and Howard considered just making a run for it but then figured he would be quite rather quickly, before nodding in response.

“I’m Chris by the way, Chris Wolstenholme,” Chris greeted, extending a hand out.

“Howard Donald,” Howard responded as he shook the hand.

“Sorry about Matt, he can be a bit much sometimes.”

“I think that’s an understatement and I’ve only just met him,” Howard remarked, causing Chris to laugh slightly as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly like an embarrassed mother.

Howard had then looked back across at the window where Matt had been stood and saw him there once again, except this time there was another man. The man didn’t seem very impressed with Matt as he stood with his arms folded as Matt seemed to ramble on about something, his arms flying all over the place.

“So, I hear you’re engaged to Mark Owen,” Chris then said, and Howard turned back to look at him because he was surprised to hear this.

“I am but how’d you hear about that?” Howard questioned, unsure of how anybody aside from Robbie, Gary and Jason knew.

“Well I work at the school as a cleaner with my mate Dominic, who also lives here, and we overheard one of the teachers talking about it, though to be fair, he didn’t seem very happy about it,” Chris explained, and Howard already knew exactly which teacher it was.

“I see.”

“But yeah, I just wanted to say congratulations, it’s nice to see that Mark’s finally decided to settle down.”

“Thank you but would you mind bringing Matt back here? Because I really want to go home,” Howard asked, and it seemed to startle Chris for a moment before he responded.

“Yeah, sorry, didn’t really realise how long he’d been gone.” And then Chris shut the door and disappeared.

It was a few minutes before the door was flung open again to reveal Matt and the blonde man, who Howard assumed was Dominic.

“Hi, sorry about that, Matt’s just being awkward but I think it’s in everyone’s best interest if you just follow along with it,” Dominic said before bending down and picking up the letter.

“I’m just trying to do my job,” Howard argued, but Dominic simply shrugged before pushing the letter into Howard’s chest and closing the door.

This left Howard outside in the cold and dark front garden in a stunned silence. Clearly he was just going to have to come back another time because he had a feeling that if he left the letter, it would simply find its way back to him, and he really couldn’t be bothered to deal with that at the moment when he’d rather go home and have sex. 

However, he did mentally swear that he would deliver the letter no matter what.


	11. Cat Duvets

When Robbie arrived outside of Gary’s house on Saturday afternoon, it was actually sunny out, though that didn’t mean it wasn’t still freezing. Robbie was there to ask Gary out and he was feeling rather confident because he’d come prepared. He had been to Mark’s shop that morning and while Mark wasn’t in, there was a rather tall young man there instead. His name was Chris Martin and he was apparently Mark’s assistant, though he kept forgetting about him according to Chris. Robbie hadn’t learnt much more than that because he was in a rush and so had changed the subject and got his flowers.

Another thing that Robbie had done in preparation was sit up until 3am, writing what he was going to say and then rewriting it until it was perfect. He’d then spent the whole morning practising it because Jason had thrown a pillow at him when he tried to do it during early hours of the morning.

So, when Robbie stood outside Gary’s house, he felt ready because this was the most he’d ever prepared for anything and Jason had always said that if you prepared and put in the work, life would be so more simpler and you would be rewarded for it, and Robbie believed this because Jason was always right, even if he didn’t like to admit it. After reminding himself of this again, Robbie took a deep breath and then knocked on the door and waited.

However, Robbie found himself standing there for a rather long period of time, which then caused his confidence to come crumbling down as questions began to fill his mind. Had something happened to Gary? Had Jason or Howard gotten to him while he was away preparing? God, had he caused Gary’s death? Or what if he was fighting one of them off right now? Or could they both be in there? _Ok, calm down, you’re being ridiculous._ Robbie then decided to try knocking again because maybe Gary just hadn’t heard him, or maybe Gary wasn’t even in at the moment. 

Fortunately, the door was then opened and a rather sweaty Gary stood there in the same outfit he’d worn on their jog. Great, now all of Robbie’s confidence had just evaporated because he’d freaked himself out and Gary looked really sexy.

“Oh hi Rob, sorry about the wait, I was just working out upstairs,” Gary greeted, and Robbie had to the swallow the lump in his throat before responding.

“That’s alright, there’s no rush,” Robbie said before realising he didn’t even explain why there was no rush.

“So did you need something?” Gary asked before wiping a hand over his dripping forehead.

“Uh yeah, I came to ask you something, but first, I have to tell you something important.”

“Ok, do you wanna come in for this?” _Say no, you’ll only make it more awkward if this goes south._

“Um yeah please.” _Why do I even bother?_

Gary then nodded and stood aside before Robbie entered the house for the first time. When entering the house, you immediately came into the kitchen and dining room area. It was decorated quite nicely with simple but flattering furniture. It felt quite spacious and probably had what Jason referred to as “positive and flowing energy”.

“So, what did you want to tell me?” Gary questioned as he closed the door and entered the kitchen properly.

“Right, well the thing is Gary, I think you’re a really nice man, like the nicest one I’ve ever met,” Robbie began, and Gary nodded to this but he could tell that he was confused as to where this was going.

“And when I first met you, I thought you were somebody I could get on with but probably wouldn’t really remember all that well when I left, but then something changed, over this past week, I’ve really felt like we’ve connected and that we’re alike in many ways and I think I’ll be quite sad when I go, I mean, I don’t know if you’ve felt anything like that towards me.”

“No I think I understand you,” Gary responded, and Robbie felt his spirits lifting up upon hearing this.

“Really?”

“Yeah, you’re definitely an interesting and unique person Rob and I think I’ll miss you when you go,” Gary explained, and Robbie couldn’t help but smile at this.

“That’s really good to hear because I think you’re a really amazing person, like you’re so kind and funny and committed to what you do.”

“Well thank you, I think you’re a good friend as well.” _Wait, no._

“Oh, well I meant I think of you in more than a friend way, if you understand me?” Robbie said, and Gary seemed to think this over because a look of revelation crossed his face.

“Ah I get you now and yeah, I suppose as short a time we’ve known each other, I think I could class you as a best friend.” _God that’s just worse._

Hearing this had just completely deflated all the hope from Robbie once again and he decided that this was not going to work out after all.

“Right, well that’s all I wanted to say if I’m honest, sorry if this was weird and kinda random,” Robbie said, deciding to just leave before it got awkward.

“Oh, right but didn’t you want to ask me something as well?” _Fuck, ok, you know what? Just ask him because maybe he’ll understand you now._

“Oh yeah, um, I was just wondering if you’d maybe want to go out with me tomorrow night or something?” Robbie asked, deciding that Gary couldn’t possibly misinterpret this.

“Are you inviting me out for dinner?” 

“Uh yes, like I don’t know exactly where I’m inviting you but I’m inviting you somewhere.”

“Is there a special occasion?” _Gary, you’re really not making this any easier._

“Well no, I just thought it would be nice to do something meaningful before I leave next week,” Robbie explained, and Gary seemed rather taken aback upon hearing this.

“Oh, well I have to say, I’m surprised you want to spend such a night with me and not one of your friends.” _Ok, what does that mean?_

“Uh why would I want to go out with my friends and not you?”

“Because it’s like a farewell thing, isn’t it?” _Right so apparently he can misinterpret._

“Yes, that’s exactly it.”

“Ok then and if you’re absolutely sure you want to go out with me and not your friends, then I’d happy to go out with you Rob,” Gary replied, and Robbie felt a mixture of disappointment and pride in hearing those words because while it wasn’t in the way he’d wanted it, Gary still agreed to go somewhere alone with him.

“Right, well I’ll come pick you tomorrow at about six if that’s ok?”

“That’s perfect, see you then.” And Robbie left with Gary’s flowers still in hand.

Robbie ended up just going back to the inn, putting the flowers on Jason’s bed because he liked things like that and just lying in bed for hours. It wasn’t until Jason returned at about six that he sat up.

“Evening Rob,” Jason greeted as he took his jacket off and hung it up on the door.

“Hi,” Robbie replied, his voice sounding exactly like a sulking child.

“Something bad happen today?” Jason asked as he came and sat at the bottom of Robbie’s bed.

“I asked somebody out today and they didn’t really seem to understand exactly what I was saying so now I’m going on a date that’s not really a date,” Robbie explained, hoping that Jason wouldn’t ask for a name.

“Oh, that’s really awful Rob, but don’t give up hope, when Howard and I first started meeting up, he was rather oblivious, so just give them some time and I’m sure they’ll come around,” Jason said, and while Robbie knew that he was just trying to cheer him up, it didn’t work in the slightest.

“Yeah but you and Howard didn’t have two weeks to make it work.”

“I suppose not but maybe if things go well in this date that’s not a date, then maybe they’ll realise or want to go out with you again properly.”

“Maybe but I’m not holding onto much hope if I’m honest, this guy is far worse than Howard.”

“Well if it fails, then it wasn’t meant to be and besides, it’s not like it’s going to really matter, we’re only here for the mission and then we’re gone.”

“I guess.”

After that, Jason jumped into his hectic day at the library before disappearing into the shower, leaving Robbie to lay in misery until he fell asleep.

*  
It was roughly nine at night after a lovely night out together, when Howard and Mark had stumbled into the darkly lit house with Mark’s legs wrapped tightly around Howard’s waist as they made out furiously. Howard was trying his best to keep hold of Mark as he kicked the front door shut behind them before attempting to find the staircase. Fortunately he was successful and he began the ascent with one hand on the bannister and the other holding Mark up with little effort.

Once safely upstairs, Howard was quick to lead the two into the pitch-black bedroom before landing on the bed, which caused Mark to let go upon impact. However, it didn’t slow them down in the slightest as Howard was quick to lean back down and begin to kiss and suck on Mark’s neck, which was obviously greatly appreciated due to the pleasant hums and sighs that were coming from him.

It was then that Mark reached across with one arm and switched the lamp on because he seemed to prefer it that way. Now, it wasn’t until Mark started to unfasten Howard’s blazer that things went south quickly. Howard had then had to sit up as he shrugged off his blazer and Mark was quick to slip out of his own jacket before laying down again, looking up at Howard in anticipation.

However, they went no further than that because the moment Howard went to lean back down, his eyes took notice of the change in duvet covers since he’d left that morning. That morning, the covers were white and floral, which wasn’t to Howard’s taste but Mark liked them so he didn’t mind it. However, the duvet cover had now been changed and they were covered in little cartoon cats in what appeared to be little sailor hats. It was incredibly off putting to say the least and Howard just couldn’t resist saying something.

“Um Mark, can I ask you something?” Howard asked, and while Mark seemed slightly put off himself by the sudden halt, he nodded all the same.

“Why are there cats on the duvet cover?” Howard questioned, and Mark looked puzzled by the question, as if the cats were a perfectly normal thing.

“Because they’re cute and soft and I like them?” 

“Right, sorry,” Howard said before deciding to just ignore it because it wasn’t worth arguing over, was it? No, not when he could just have some great sex.

So, Howard leant back down and kissed Mark, which was met with rather eagerly as the smaller man began to unbutton Howard’s shirt and he even managed to get it off him before they had to break for air. However, they were quick to reconnect as Mark wrapped his arms around Howard’s neck and pulled them back together.

It felt great but Howard couldn’t stop the feeling that something was watching them and he knew it was the cats. It was like they were judging him for what he was doing with Mark, like this hadn’t ever happened before. Maybe it was because he questioned their existence? Or maybe it was just Howard?

Well, whatever it was, it was bugging Howard too much and caused him to pull away from the kiss once more, much to Mark’s disappointment clearly as he let out a rather desperate sound and gripped his neck tighter.

“Mark, I need you to change the covers,” Howard stated rather bluntly.

“Uh why?”

“Because I find them incredibly off putting and a little disturbing.” And maybe Howard had been a little too blunt because this caused Mark to just completely detach himself from Howard before pushing the taller man up so he himself could sit upright.

“What do you have against my cats?” Mark questioned with an incredibly hurt expression on his face.

“I don’t have anything _against_ them personally, I just can’t do this with them watching,” Howard explained, but this didn’t to make anything better.

“You know they’re not real, right? They’re not really watching How.”

“I know they’re not real Mark, I just think they’re a bit odd and it’s really putting me off.”

“What’s odd about them? I think they’re really cute,” Mark argued as if he were defending his family’s honour.

“They are cute but that’s the problem, I kind of feel like they’re a bit innocent to be on this bed in particular considering things.”

“What things?” Howard was now having trouble deciphering how much of this was feigned ignorance and how much was genuine.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed Mark but ever since we first met, we’ve done it quite a lot on this bed and so I just find it a little strange that you’ve got a duvet with something so cute and innocent considering how much you seem to enjoy sex,” Howard explained, hoping that it would get through this time.

“Are you saying that I can’t like cute things because I love sex?” Howard had to fight hard to contain the frustrated groan he so desperately wanted to let out but knew would only make things worse.

“No, I’m just-”

“Because I think that’s a little hypocritical of you considering you like me and I’m incredibly cute, plus I wear really cute stuff.”

“Mark, you and your outfits are a very different kind of cute, for one, you’re human.”

“So you don’t think my cats are deserving of a life outside the box?”

“See now you’re just contradicting yourself.”

“How?”

“Because you said that they aren’t real but you’re talking as if they are.”

“Well whatever, that’s not the point, the point is that you want me to change something about myself for the sake of sex, which I’m sure Gary would tell me is quite shallow.”

“Ok firstly, don’t bring Gary into this, you don’t even like him anymore, and secondly, I’m not asking you to change this whole part of you, it’s just a singular duvet cover.”

“It’s not just one cover Howard.”

“What?”

“I have ten cat duvets.” Howard was stunned into silence.

“And I’m not getting rid of any of them.”

“You’re seriously going to jeopardise our whole sexual relationship for some cat duvets?”

“Yes, they mean a lot to me.”

“Right, well I think that’s ridiculous, so I’m just gonna say it now, it’s me or the cats Mark, which do you love more?” Now he had him.

“I choose the cats.” _Shit, I didn’t think he’d actually choose them._

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, so I think you should probably go.”

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“Well, no, I still want to be with you, I just can’t do that right now.”

Ok, that had not gone as expected.


	12. The Date

When Jason and Robbie had first sat down at the table in the dining room on Sunday morning, it had been quiet. Neither had said a word to each other since waking up because both were waiting to see if the other was going to address the previous night’s event. The event being Howard storming into the room at about 10pm, immediately locking himself in the bathroom and letting out an incredibly frustrated scream or noise of some sort before then returning to the room, changing into his pajamas and getting into bed with Robbie without a single word. Neither Jason nor Robbie had even dared to say anything to him because while Jason knew that he himself had a bad temper when it came to it, Howard was certainly not somebody you should anger due to the fact that he never got angry. In fact, Jason had ever only seen Howard get angry once and it was when they’d had an argument the year before and it certainly wasn’t something he wanted to see again.

So, when Robbie was the first to bring it up as Ayda served them their cups of tea, Jason was relieved because he hated the strange atmosphere they’d been in.

“So, what do you think happened to Howard?” Robbie asked once Ayda had left the room.

“I honestly have no idea but it must’ve been serious, I’ve never seen him like this,” Jason replied as he picked up his mug.

“Maybe it has something to do with Mark since he was just at his,” Robbie suggested, and Jason felt his grip on the handle tighten upon hearing Mark’s name.

“Maybe.” Though Jason was really hoping for a solid yes because he couldn’t stand how much time Howard been spending with Mark in the past week.

Jason actually hadn’t seen Howard since he’d broken into Mark’s house. He’d left Howard’s retrieved phone on his bedside table but obviously he’d been away at Mark’s all week and hadn’t noticed. In fact, it felt like Howard had been avoiding him and he could only assume it was because of the engagement. Howard probably assumed that he was sparing Jason’s feelings or some bullshit but it was actually hurting Jason far more this way. Jason was of course furious about the ridiculous situation but he was also pained by all the secrecy because even if they weren’t seeing each other, Jason and Howard were still really close and always had been, even as just friends. However, it was clear now that Howard didn’t see them this way anymore despite Jason seeing them as so.

“I suppose he’ll tell us when he comes down.”

“Or when he ready.” However, even though Jason said this and Robbie nodded in agreement, it was clear that the two wanted answers as soon as possible.

So, the two continued to sit and drink their tea while they awaited Howard’s eventual arrival, which fortunately wasn’t too long.

When Howard arrived and sat in between the two at the round table with his hands clasped together in front of him, he looked drained. It was actually quite concerning, which was why Jason was the first to speak up.

“Morning How, you alright?” Jason greeted, but he was met with a heavy sigh.

“I think that’s a no,” Robbie remarked.

“You seemed really upset last night, do you wanna talk about?” Jason questioned, determined to get answers.

“Not really.”

“Aw come on How, we’re friends, aren’t we? You can trust us,” Robbie said, and Jason found himself rather surprised when Howard actually responded because that would never have worked on Jason.

“Mark kicked me out last night.” Jason had to physically stop himself from smiling upon hearing this because wow, this was fantastic news.

“That’s terrible,” Jason said, even placing a hand on Howard’s own in an attempt to score some points for sympathy.

“Yeah and it’s a bloody ridiculous reason as well,” Howard explained rather bitterly, and to this Jason removed his hand and raised an eyebrow while Robbie simply leant a little closer.

“What exactly happened?” Robbie questioned as he then decided that he had to get even closer as he shuffled his chair a bit closer.

“It’s not important,” Howard quickly replied, indicating that perhaps it was something either very personal or embarrassing.

“You’re wellbeing is important to us Howard,” Robbie said, and Jason nodded in agreement and hoped that Howard could see the genuine concern in his eyes because while yes, he was enjoying the disaster in this ridiculous relationship, he also really cared for Howard and knew that he was quite sensitive about these things.

“Alright, fine, I was at his last night after we went out and of course we were going to fuck, except we never _actually_ got that far,” Howard began, and while Jason wished that he’d left that detail out, Robbie seemed even more intrigued.

“Did you mess up?” Robbie asked, and Howard seemed almost offended by that question.

“No, things were going really well actually, or at least they were until I noticed the change in the duvet covers.” 

“I’m sorry, did you say the duvet covers?” Jason questioned, and Howard nodded, not a hint of humour on his face.

“The cover that Mark had chosen to put on the bed was a cat duvet.”

“A cat duvet?” Jason repeated, not sure of what else to say to this.

“Yeah, they were just covered in these little cartoon cats, which of course threw me off and next thing I know, we’re arguing over them because Mark didn’t want to get rid of them and he said he’d rather choose the cats over me, like he didn’t even think about it, so now I’m pissed off and don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Howard finished, and Jason found himself lifting his mug up to his mouth in order to conceal the smile on his face, while Robbie had been less subtle and simply placed his hands over his mouth in a poor attempt to look like he was in pure shock.

“Oh my god, that’s so awful, I can’t believe he chose the _cats_ over you,” Robbie said, though his tone was incredibly fake.

“Yeah, that’s just truly the worst thing,” Jason added, though Howard only met the two with a cold and unamused look.

“It’s not funny,” He stated, and the two shook their heads, still hiding their smiles.

“No, of course not,” Jason said, though he failed to keep the small laugh that escaped his mouth at the end of the sentence contained.

“Yeah, this is very serious, I mean, one cat duvet, that’s a big deal,” Robbie said before seemingly giving up and removing his hands to reveal the big grin on his face.

“It’s not just one,” Howard muttered as he folded his arms across his chest, which caused Jason to lower his mug back onto the table.

“What?” 

“He doesn’t have just one cat duvet.”

“God, how many?” Robbie asked, not even attempting to hide this laughter.

“Ten.” Jason and Robbie then burst out into laughter as Howard sat, a blank expression on his face. 

They sat there in their fit of laughter for about five minutes and then stopped as Howard stood up.

“Right, well I’m going to go because you’re both being arseholes,” Howard said, but Jason and Robbie were quick to latch onto a hand each.

“No don’t go, we’re sorry,” Jason said as his laughter faded away.

“Yeah, we shouldn’t have laughed, this is your relationship and it’s a serious issue for you both, so let’s talk about it properly,” Robbie said, and Jason was surprised and almost impressed at how easily Robbie managed to come down from his fit.

Howard seemed sceptical of their words for a moment but eventually he let out a defeated sigh before sitting down again. It was only then that the two released Howard from their grip and sat back into their own seats properly.

“Ok, so Mark is incredibly attached to the duvet covers and kicked you out for them?” Robbie asked, and Howard nodded.

“Right, well I think that while Mark may have ten more cat duvets than any person needs, they clearly mean something to him and so by having you show up and just decide that they have to go, it may seem like you’re trying to alter his being into something more pleasing to just yourself and not considering his own feelings,” Robbie suggested, and while Jason wasn’t exactly liking the idea of fixing this relationship, he was really impressed and quite stunned by Robbie’s analysis of the situation.

“He did say something about me changing him for the sake of sex,” Howard said rather quietly.

“See? They're clearly a big part of him, so while I think it’s important that Mark learns there needs to be compromise in relationships and so should maybe get rid of some of the duvets, you also need to accept this part of him or at least find out what they mean to him.”

“And how exactly should I do that? I mean, I don’t think he really wants to see me right now.”

“I don’t really know if I’m honest, maybe you should just go to him and see what happens or make some grand romantic gesture? Anything is better than nothing.” And Howard seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding.

“Right, I know what I need to do, thanks Rob,” Howard then said before standing up and rushing out of the room.

“Part of me wants to hate you for doing that Rob, but even I have to admit, that was really mature of you to do,” Jason said before taking a sip of his tea.

“Thanks Jason, it gives me a little bit of hope for a love life.”

“Which reminds me, don’t you have a date tonight?” Jason asked, and for a moment, it seemed like Robbie had forgotten his misery towards the date before he sighed.

“Yeah.”

“Who is it you’re going out with?” Jason questioned, and there was alarm in Robbie’s eyes.

“Uh it’s nobody you know, just somebody from the school,” Robbie replied, though Jason was sceptical.

“I see, well I hope it goes well and that they get the message soon.”

“So do I, Jason.”

*  
When Robbie arrived outside Gary’s house, dressed in his nicest suit at 6pm, his heart was pounding. He was worried for a few reasons, one being that he wasn’t sure whether he’d come overdressed and another being that he hoped Gary didn’t mind the place he’d chosen because it was literally the only moderately nice place to eat in town and he’d had a rather heated argument with an old lady when he went in the morning to sort out a table, which he obviously won. It was probably the most effort he’d gone to for somebody because he’d first asked Ayda where she recommended before spending a solid hour fighting the old lady. Robbie had also retrieved the flowers from Jason’s bedside table because maybe tonight he’d actually give them to Gary and it would finally click inside his gorgeous head.

Robbie had only waited a minute after knocking before Gary opened the door, which had led to Robbie mentally sighing in relief at the sight of Gary in a stunning blue suit. In fact, Gary also seemed relieved when he looked Robbie up and down before smiling.

“Hiya Robbie,” Gary greeted, and Robbie decided to be quick in handing over the flowers because he left it too long last time and paid the price.

“Hi, I got you these but please, don’t feel pressured to take them.” _Nice one, now he won’t feel forced or feel bad for declining._

“Oh, thank you, they’re really quite beautiful,” Gary said as he accepted the bouquet and looked at them carefully, a look of surprise on his face.

“I hope they can at least compete with the many bouquets from your truest love, Janine,” Robbie remarked, and Gary laughed in response before shaking his head with that lovely smile on his face. _Alright Robbie, you’re doing incredibly well, don’t blow this for us._

“Well I’d have to give it a think but they’re definitely at the top somewhere.” _Awesome, he’s playing along._

“Oh thank god, I was really worried for a second.”

“Yeah, I’d be too, Janine really is a special woman to me.”

“Well I hope she doesn’t mind us going out then.”

“As long as you make it a good night then I think she’ll cope.”

“Excellent, shall we go then?” Robbie asked, deciding not to let this become an awkward silence.

“Absolutely, just let me put these in a vase.” And then Gary disappeared for a few minutes before returning, stepping outside the house and locking it.

“Right, lead the way,” Gary said, and Robbie nodded, now praying that his navigational skills were functioning.

It took about five minutes to get to their destination and fortunately, it was filled with some small talk that actually wasn’t awkward.   
When they arrived, Robbie managed to sort out the table and they were seated without any fuss. In fact, they even managed to order their drinks and food without much hassle, which made Robbie slightly paranoid that something awful was going to happen at any moment, but he tried his best to ignore this feeling.

“So, do you often do this kind of thing when you’re filling in for assistants?” Gary asked as he rested on the table with his folded arms, leaning across ever so slightly with a look that was probably meant to look casual but Robbie could tell that his response was going to be make or break the mood.

“What kind of thing?” Robbie asked, trying to play it off coolly.

“Taking out the teachers.”

“Um no, I’ve never done it before actually,” Robbie explained, and Gary seemed almost relieved to hear this, though Robbie wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

“Right, so what made you want to do it this time?” _Ok Robbie, you’ve prepared for this question, it was inevitable so just go with something vague._

“Well I just fancied a change and thought it would be nice.” _Very nice._

“Ok but why me specifically? It seems a little random, I mean, surely there must be better company.” _Wow, he might have worse self-esteem issues than you…ok maybe not that bad._

“Because I really like you and think you’re amazing company and like spending time with you at work and outside of work, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun or felt like I can be myself until I met you,” Robbie explained, and it felt refreshing that he didn’t have to lie this time.

“I can’t say I’ve ever had somebody say something like that to me if I’m honest but it’s nice to hear that, thank you Robbie,” Gary replied with a smile on his face, and Robbie could just feel how much it really meant to Gary from the smile alone.

Robbie even felt in that moment that maybe he should just come out and tell Gary how he really felt. Hell, he’d even tell him about everything, about who he really was and why he was there and why he’d chosen to give it all up by the end. Gary seemed to be the one and only person out there for him and he knew he’d understand if he let Robbie explain, which he was sure he’d do. So, he took a deep breath and spoke.

“Gary, there’s something I need to s-” _Shit, is that Jason?_

Yes, it really was Jason sitting on the other side of the room. Alarms bells began to ring in Robbie’s head as he realised that while Gary currently had his back to Jason, there was nothing stopping Jason from seeing Robbie and deciding to come and say hi, which would ultimately expose Robbie and would just lead to Jason trying to kill Gary the next moment he had in order to put a stop to it. 

“Uh is everything ok Rob?” Gary then asked, snapping Robbie out of his thoughts.

“Um yeah, can you just excuse me for a moment?” Robbie said, not even waiting for a response before standing up and making his way over to Jason, who was dressed quite nicely as well and was wearing his reading glasses as he read the wine menu.

“Uh Jason?” Robbie said, and Jason didn’t even jump at the sudden appearance before looking up at Robbie.

“Hi Robbie, how’s your date going?” Jason asked, attempting to lean around Robbie to have a look, but Robbie was quick to block his view again.

“It’s going really well actually, which is why I’m here.”

“Oh, have I done something wrong?” 

“No, not yet anyway, but I need you to understand that I find your presence very distracting,” Robbie explained rather bluntly because there was no time to be polite.

“Well I’m really sorry Robbie but I’m not just going to leave because you can’t ignore me, I mean, I’m allowed to have some time to myself as well.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, but could you maybe move it to another date, time or location?” Robbie asked hopefully, though it was apparent through Jason’s blank and unimpressed expression that he was not going to get his way.

“Right, ok, I’m sorry, I’ll just go,” Robbie said before rushing back over to his own table and sitting down again.

“Really sorry about that, my friend Jason is over there and he was waving me over,” Robbie lied, and it seemed to work because Gary nodded understandingly.

“That’s alright, was it important?” 

“Not really, he just wanted to say hi.”

“But aren’t you rooming together?” 

“Yeah, it was a bit weird if I’m honest but Jason’s feeling a bit lonely right now, I mean, he’s just gotten out of a casual thing with Howard,” Robbie explained, and Gary raised an eyebrow, the same eyebrow that Robbie had noticed seemed to have a life of its own.

“Howard and the librarian used to be in a relationship?” 

“Well I wouldn’t call it a relationship, it was purely a year of casual hook-ups.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah but don’t worry, he’ll be fine eventually, he’s just got a few issues to work through is all.”

“Well that’s good to hear but if you don’t mind me changing the subject, you said earlier that you wanted to tell me something?” _Fuck, why does he keep remembering these things?_

“Um yeah, I just wanted to say…thank you, for coming out with me tonight, even if it was a little weird and random.” _God damnit Jason, I almost had it but you just had to show up and ruin it all._

It was then that Robbie noticed that there had been a glimmer of hope in Gary’s eyes as he’d awaited a reply but it quickly evaporated as disappointment now crossed it.

“Oh, I see, well it’s alright Robbie, if anything, I should be thanking you,” Gary responded, replacing the disappointment with a little smile that was clearly forced. _Shit, this is going downhill too fast, you’ve got to save this now or it’s too late._

“It’s no problem but another thing, I’ve been meaning to ask you about your exercise routine because I can’t help but notice that you’re in amazing shape, so what’s your secret?” _Ok, this may salvage the mood._

And salvage the mood it did because the minute he said “exercise”, Gary’s eyes lit up and god was it a sight. 

“Well thank you, though you seem to be in good shape as well, but I know you might doubt me when I say this but it’s really just a balance of a good diet and exercise, so for example…” Gary then jumped into his incredibly elaborate routine and what he ate and where he got it from, and Robbie nodded along in genuine interest.

It was genuine because while Robbie didn’t have any real interest in exercise or just how hard one had to grind to reach a body like Gary’s, he was interested in how much it excited Gary and the way he seemed to be unable to sit still when he spoke about it. He watched and listened even as they ate and drank because Gary had a lot to say and there was no way that Robbie was going to interrupt him or shut him down because why would anybody want to make somebody feel like their interests were a bore or a nuisance? Robbie would never know how some people could do that, even when they’d been doing it to him for his whole life.

“And that’s about everything I can really tell you…god, I’ve been running my mouth for a while, haven’t I? Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to spend the whole night boring you,” Gary said, and Robbie shook his head.

“No need to apologise, I’m the one who asked, and you were incredibly helpful so thank you, I can’t wait to get a body like yours,” Robbie responded, and Gary let out a little sound of amusement.

“I don’t think you need much help with that.” _Oh my god, did he just flirt with us? Or at least just outright call us fit? How do you even respond to that? Thanks?_

“Well I might look this good but trust me, I’m nowhere near as healthy as you.” 

“Well you might be some day, I have faith in you.” _Oh wow, is that what actual support sounds like?_

“Um if you don’t mind me being nosy again, but what got you into all this health stuff?” _If you’re going to learn anything intimate, now feels like the time._

Gary’s smile then disappeared as he looked at Robbie for a moment before lowering his head and staring at the table with a look that made Robbie regret even asking. In fact, he was about to apologise and move on but then Gary looked up again and locked eyes with Robbie. He seemed to be looking for something and he must’ve found it because next thing Robbie knew, Gary’s answering the question.

“I was in a bit of a bad place about fifteen years ago, it was just after I’d graduated from a uni of some sort and it really messed with me for a few reasons but anyway, I kind of fell into this pit and I didn’t want to come back out because I was scared of what people would say, I mean, I became unrecognisable, I gained a lot of weight and did things I never thought I’d do to make myself feel ok,” Gary said, and upon hearing this, Robbie felt incredibly grateful that Gary had trusted him enough to tell him this.

“I mean, I soon decided to get my life sorted because work was just a distraction and I didn’t want to hide from my problems any longer, so I tried an all manner of different methods to lose the weight but nothing worked, or at least it didn’t work for long enough or it was just too much hassle and made me feel worse, but I wasn’t alone I should say that, I was with this woman Dawn, the one I told you about, yeah, she was incredibly supportive and she tried to talk me out of half the things I tried, but I never listened and she still stayed.”

“But don’t worry, I eventually got myself sorted obviously, I found out the right way for me and for everyone and now I am what you see right now, I’ll spare you the worst details of course but just know it wasn’t easy, but I’m almost grateful I went through it sometimes because I became who I am because of it.” 

“That was probably hard to tell somebody you hardly know, so thank you again Gary, you continue to inspire me every day,” Robbie said, and Gary nodded.

“It’s alright, I feel like I know you enough to tell that you didn’t mean any harm by asking and weren’t seeking just so you could go and tell everyone, besides, I don’t really feel ashamed anymore, it just feels so fresh sometimes.”

It was then that the two decided that they should probably leave due to the lateness and because Robbie noticed that Jason was still there and seemed about ready to leave, which was just an invitation to come over and ruin literally everything.

So, Robbie made sure to keep to Gary’s left and hide his identity from Jason after he’d paid, which had taken a solid five minutes to convince Gary to let him do, and they made their way out the building. 

The walk back to Gary’s was quite peaceful and it seemed as though neither really wanted to reach the front door and go their separate ways, but of course it soon came and Gary was stood on the front step with Robbie below him.

“Well I now I’ve probably already said it a thousand times but thank you again Rob, I had a really good time tonight,” Gary said, and Robbie smiled as he shook his head once again.

“It was honestly no bother, I had an amazing night as well, we’ll have to do it again soon,” Robbie replied, and Gary smiled back at this.

“Yeah, I’d really like that.”

The two then just simply stood in a comfortable silence, just smiling at each other like a couple of hopeless romantics, which admittedly, they were. In fact, Robbie couldn’t help but notice just how close they were to each other and how with Gary stood on the step, they lined up perfectly with each other. It was like the universe wanted this to happen, it wanted Robbie to kiss Gary and to just leave everything behind to protect and be with him.

So, Robbie took the message and leant in ever so slightly to see what would happen and he wasn’t disappointed, Gary actually leant back across without any sign of hesitation. Robbie then extended an arm to put on Gary’s back to bring them closer and close the gap, but he never succeeded in doing so because his phone rang out at volume that seemed to be obnoxiously loud.

The disturbance completely broke the mood and the two leapt apart as Robbie let out a small nervous laugh before apologising and retrieving the phone. He looked at the screen and saw it was Jason and he was about ready to just hurl his phone into the brick wall because Jason just kept doing this and whether it was intentional or not, Robbie didn’t know, but it was bloody annoying.

“What?” Robbie said, not even attempting to hide his irritation, once he’d brought the phone to his ear and answered the call.

“Calm down Robbie, I was just wondering if you were planning on coming back tonight or did your date go well?” Jason questioned, and this just made everything worse as Robbie glanced at Gary, who was now standing with his hands in his trouser pockets with his head down.

“No, I’m coming back, just give me ten minutes, ok? Right, bye,” Robbie then hung up and shoved the phone back into his blazer pocket.

“Um sorry about that, it was just Jason, wanted to know when I was gonna be back,” Robbie explained, which caused Gary’s head to snap to attention.

“Right, I suppose it is getting on.”

“Yeah, I guess we just lost track of time.”

“Well you know what they say, time flies when you’re having fun and it certainly flew by tonight.” 

“Suppose we’ll need more time next time around.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.” Robbie then ran out of things to say. _Great._

“Right, well I suppose I’d better get going or Jason will send a search party of just himself, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Robbie said, and Gary nodded.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow Rob, goodnight,” Gary replied, and then he turned to unlock his door and Robbie left.

Good, this was getting messier by the day, wasn’t it?


	13. Back to Square One

It was late at night when Howard arrived outside Mark’s door, though it was much earlier when he decided that he was ready to talk to him. He’d set off from the inn sometime in the evening after he’d spent the majority of his day in and out of the local shops, searching for something in particular to give to Mark as part of his apology. Fortunately he’d found what he was looking for and so once he’d found a box for it, he set off to Mark’s house but of course only arrived a few hours later than originally planned due to the fact that he’d gotten lost. Every time Howard walked the streets he felt as though they’d somehow rearranged themselves, which was why he’d spent hours just going in circles until he eventually found Mark’s little house.

However, despite his late arrival, Howard still found himself just standing at the door, unable to bring himself to knock. _He probably doesn’t even wanna see me, I bet he’s just going about usual business or gone off to bed without a care in the world._ There was a light on in the living room but that wasn’t a guarantee that Mark would even still be awake because he was forgetful like that.

So, Howard decided that it would be best to just go and accept that it was probably over between the two. He turned from the door and took a few steps down the path before stopping again. _What if he’s actually awake and just waiting for you? I mean, you said some things you shouldn’t have, what if he did the same and is just hoping you’ll come back to him?_ The possibility was enough to make Howard turn back and march up to the door once again before raising a fist and knocking on the door.

He waited for what felt like an eternity before realising that nobody was going to answer the door. However, he wasn’t going to give up without a fight and so he knocked again and then again before there was finally the sound of a voice, a muffled voice, but still a voice.

“Go away, I’m not home!” Mark called out, and while it sounded as though he were crying, Howard still couldn’t help but smile at the little man’s idea of an effective way of sending somebody away.

“Mark, it’s me!” Howard yelled back, hoping that Mark would be able to tell and let him in.

There was however only silence for a few minutes until an unusually large silhouette appeared behind the door’s patterned glass. It then wasn’t long until the door opened up ever so slightly to revealed Mark, who was wrapped up in one of his cat duvets and had red and watery eyes.

“Can I help you?” Mark asked, clearly trying his best to not cry.

“Can we talk?” Howard responded, hopeful.

“I suppose,” Mark then replied after a few minutes of tense silence.

Mark then opened the door further before disappearing down the hall and into the living room, the duvet trailing behind him as he left Howard to enter and close the door. As awful as it was, Howard was slightly relieved to see that Mark was coping about as well as Howard was.

However, it was then proved that Mark was perhaps handling it far less than Howard once he’d entered the living room and found Mark sitting on one of the two sofas with what appeared to be every single cat duvet he owned wrapped around him. It was this sight that led Howard to be very cautious when he entered and sat down on the other sofa, placing the box beside him.

“So, I understand that you probably don’t want to see or even talk to me because you don’t think there’s anything to say, but honestly, last night I thought the same I was so angry and it was ironically Robbie, who has not been in any significant or meaningful relationships, that told me there was a lot to talk about and I’m ready to do that because as ridiculous as it may sound, I’ve really missed you,” Howard said, praying that Mark would give him his chance.

“I’ve missed you too and I think I’m ready to talk as well,” Mark replied, and Howard mentally sighed in relief, though he still had to convince Mark yet.

“Right, well Mark, while I understand that the duvets mean a lot to you and that I was being rather unreasonable considering this is still your house and you can decorate it however you like, I also can’t help but feel like this is just a sign for more trouble,” Howard explained, and Mark, as per usual, seemed puzzled and rather tense.

“What kind of trouble?”

“Like if this works out and we still go ahead and get married and move in together, you’re going to have to make room for my own belongings, not all of them of course, but a fair amount, and I can’t help but wonder how much you’ll be willing to part with or put into storage because you didn’t even hesitate last night in sending me away over your duvets.”

“Well it upsets me that you think I care more about the things in my house than you.”

“I know it does but I’m simply stating what you showed me last night, even if it wasn’t true.”

“Well I think I’d be willing to get rid of a lot of my furniture for you and also, I’m sorry for last night,” Mark replied, and Howard noticed that he seemed to relax his body as said this.

“I’m sorry as well and that’s good to hear but I still think you need to get rid of some of the duvets.” Mark tensed up again.

“Why do you want to get rid of them so much? I don’t see the problem with them.” Right back to square one.

“Because we need to learn to compromise with each other and this is a good start,” Howard explained but Mark simply shook his head.  
“I don’t think this is a compromise at all because no matter how many I get rid of, you still get what you want and I’m always the loser,” Mark argued, and Howard felt the tension skyrocket and so remained as calm as he could manage.

“Look, you obviously think I have something solely against the duvets but I don’t, I mean, I still find them oddly disturbing in some ways but I understand you like them, I just think perhaps ten of one theme is a bit of an overkill considering you also have other duvets and then soon I’ll be bringing my own, practically it just makes sense to get rid of a few,” Howard reasoned, and when Mark was silent and seemed to be thinking it over, Howard thought that perhaps they were reaching a solution, but he couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I’m sorry but I can’t, they’re too important.” Howard sighed.

“Ok, maybe I’ve jumped ahead too much, so why don’t you tell me why they’re so important to you?”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Just because.” God, is this how Jason felt when dealing with Robbie and himself?

“Mark, just trust me, ok? I’m here to listen,” Howard said, and Mark pulled the duvets tighter around him as he stared down at the floor for a moment before eventually looking back up at Howard, their eyes meeting.

“Ok but you have to promise you won’t tell anybody, alright?”

“Alright, I promise.” Howard was not one to gossip anyway.

“So I had a kind of shitty childhood, like I don’t really blame anybody, my parents and siblings were very loving and we all got on as well as a family should, but we lived in a kind of rundown area and didn’t have too much so we made do with what we had like most people and it was alright until I hit twelve and went to secondary,” Mark began, and Howard simply nodded.

“I don’t know what it was about me but the kids there didn’t really like me, well Gary did, he was my one friend and he always sat with me at lunch and every lesson we had together, even though he had so many other friends on the football team, which I was also on because I really wanted to be a footballer like most boys, but anyway, I got picked on a lot for many reasons, some I understood and some I didn’t.”

“So as a result of this constant bullying mixed with dealing with this idea that I would never be as good as everybody else and that maybe Gary was only friends with me out of pity, I started to slip behind in my work and I became very depressed.”

“I fell behind in every way possible at school and became somebody I didn’t really like in an attempt to fit in, but it never worked and by the time I reached year eleven, there was a real worry that I wasn’t going to make into a college, even if I didn’t know what to do with my life.”

“It was at this point that I learned that Gary had also been falling behind for his own reasons and I figured that at least I wouldn’t be failing alone, however, things started to turn around at the most bleakest point as there was one of those careers fairs and both Gary and I ended up speaking to this college from down south, they were quite peculiar and asked some unusual questions but they seemed very interested in our answers and then next thing we know, we’ve received letters from this special college, who told us that they felt we’d be more suited to their programs instead and so we took a leap of faith and accepted at sixteen years old.”

“Life really got better after that, this college was filled with so many different people and Gaz and I seemed to just adapt and progress in their courses at an inhuman rate, like I couldn’t believe how well I was doing and at the same time, I felt so grownup and liked and when we took it further into the higher levels and graduated into the program’s line of work, I’d never felt so wanted and so important to so many people.”

“However, despite how good I was, I had essentially been forced to become what they wanted me to be and I was not my own person, from sixteen up until I quit almost a decade ago, I had my childhood and early adulthood years taken from me, forced to fit a certain image and forced to grow up at the wrong time and when I started to ask questions, forced to become a naïve follower again, I wasn’t happy anymore, I’d almost ended up right back where I’d started, a child who was forced to grow up and mature too fast because I wasn’t like everybody else, the only bonus being that I was actually good at something.”

“So, when I finally came crashing down after trying to drink my problems away, Gary held an intervention and told me that I needed to do what I wanted for once, so I quit and came here, which was when I decided to take back my childhood and is why my house is so small and cute and childlike, so there is a reason for the cats and everything really, it’s just that the cats were the first thing I consider to be me taking back a part of my life I could never have at the time, so there you have it, I like the cats because I want to have a bit of my childhood and innocence back.”

Howard didn’t even give Mark a moment to breath before he shot across the room and embraced him in a tight hug. This hug was met with Mark gripping Howard back, practically engulfing the two in the duvets.

“Thank you for telling me that and I’m so sorry that ever happened to you, I shouldn’t have tried to take away something so important to you,” Howard said, and Mark shook his head against Howard’s chest.

“No, you couldn’t have known, I should’ve told you instead of thinking you were just being shallow or insensitive, so I’m sorry as well, I love you and I promise I’ll get rid of some of the duvets.” Howard smiled at this before giving Mark a squeeze.

“I love you too and you can do that, but only if you’re one hundred percent sure.”

“I’m absolutely sure because I understand why you might find the cats a little weird and I really can’t stand the idea that we might miss out on some sex because of them,” Mark replied, and Howard laughed at this before remembering the box suddenly.

“Um I have something for you,” Howard then said as he pulled away slightly, and Mark’s eyes lit up as Howard got up and retrieved the small box before sitting beside him once again.

“I couldn’t find a smaller box but I hope you like it,” Howard said as he handed it over to Mark.

He then watched as Mark opened the box and moved the layer of paper on top, which was hiding the contents, before he brought a hand to his mouth.

“It’s beautiful,” Mark said quietly before lifting the small object from the box.

It was a ring, Howard had realised that morning that he still didn’t have a ring for Mark and so had searched practically the whole town before finding the perfect ring for him. It was silver and had little diamonds planted all around it, simple but would look stunning on Mark, he was sure of that.

Mark was then quick to put the ring on and hold it up for both to see as a look of absolute awe crossed his own face while Howard spent more time just looking at this expression on his face because it was far more beautiful than any ring. 

*  
When Robbie had first arrived at the school on Monday morning, he was a few minutes later than the bell and was feeling rather drained and irritable. This was mostly due to the fact that he had had only a few hours of sleep when he used to an obscene amount of sleep during his regular assignments and days off. He also only managed to get so little sleep because of how the date but not a date ended. 

The fact that he almost got to kiss Gary Barlow, his insanely good looking and fit crush slash boss, was driving him crazy because it wasn’t in his head. Though there was a part in his little internal discussion at some point in the night about whether or not he’d imagined the whole thing or just the part where Gary leaned in as well. However, he’d soon convinced himself that it was all real and that Gary clearly liked him back and not just in a one night stand kind of way either because Gary certainly didn’t seem like that kind of guy. Robbie had also stayed up quite late just ranting to Jason about how close he’d been just to have him call him up at the wrong moment despite the fact that hardly any time had passed and so Robbie was most likely going to be in the middle of something.

So, when he awoke that morning, he was feeling quite temperamental because he’d figured by the end of all his ranting and arguing with himself that things were going to be awkward with Gary now because it had been screwed up and so was probably back to square one, which left Robbie with no room to repair this relationship in time before the end of the contract. It was quite possibly all over in Robbie’s mind.

“Morning Robbie,” Ayda greeted with a big smile, and Robbie gave her a little wave back as he passed through the reception.

When he’d entered the classroom, the children were already seated and Gary was sitting at his desk with his glasses on as he did the register. He looked a little tired but not nearly as much as Robbie felt and looked.

“Good morning Mr Williams!” The children greeted loudly with even a few giving him a wave, which caught Gary’s attention as he turned to look at Robbie with an uncertain smile, like he wanted to be nice and greet him normally but after last night, just couldn’t do it the same anymore, which really hurt Robbie.

The day then went on as usual once Robbie had settled himself at the back of the classroom like normal. In fact, it was going unusually normal. Gary was talking to Robbie during lessons and the lunch break as if it were just another day and Robbie wasn’t sure whether this was better or worse. He didn’t want things to change in a terrible way or lose what he’d spent the last week building with Gary, but at the same time, he also didn’t want everything to go back to normal as if they hadn’t just spent the previous night bonding while Gary opened up to Robbie in a way that most people only did with their closest friends, relatives or partners. Also, they’d almost kissed and had both wanted to do so and yet, nothing had changed for better or worse and Robbie didn’t understand why.

So, when it was time for the children to come in from lunch, Robbie decided to just find out what was going on because hey, if things were just going to be ignored, why not just outright say it?

“Um Gary, can I just ask you something? It’ll only take a minute,” Robbie questioned as they stood at the front of the classroom as the children came in one by one.

“Uh I don’t see why not? What’s wrong?” Gary replied, though it was obvious by the way he kept his head straight on, clearly trying to avoid eye contact, that he knew exactly what this was about.

“So last night I-” 

“Ooh Katie’s in trouble!” A child yelled, cutting Robbie off and drawing the two’s attention over to the carpet area of the classroom where a few children stood, one of whom was Katie, who was staring down at the floor in horror.

From what Robbie could see, she had dropped her carton of orange juice and it was leaking out and soaking into the carpet. The poor girl looked as if she were going to burst out crying any moment soon and so Robbie, being the hero he was, was quick to approach the little girl and crouch before her.

“Hey, it’s alright, you didn’t do it on purpose,” Robbie said gently, hoping that this would prevent the waterfall of tears that threatened to fall at any moment.

“I know but Mr Barlow will be angry with me, we only got the carpet two weeks ago,” She explained, wiping at her watery eyes.

“I’m sure he won’t be, I mean, when have you ever seen him get angry?” Robbie questioned, and this seemed to comfort the girl the more she thought about it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be angry,” She replied with the expression of somebody who’d had a ground-breaking revelation.

“Exactly so if you say sorry now, I think everything will be alright.”

Robbie then stood up as Katie nodded and made her way over to Gary, who had apparently been watching this interaction the whole time.

“I’m really sorry Mr Barlow, I didn’t mean to drop my orange juice,” Katie said, and Gary just smiled and shook his head as leant down to the girl.

“It’s alright, we’ll just get the cleaners to sort it out, now go back to your seat and finish your work like the rest of the class,” Gary said, and Katie smiled and nodded before dashing away to her desk.

It was then that Gary stood up straight again and brought a hand to his forehead, his smile disappearing as he did so. Robbie had then approached him with hesitation because he wasn’t sure who or what the frustrated action was directed towards.

“Everything alright?” Robbie asked, and Gary sighed as he removed his hand and looked at him.

“Not really, I’ve got to speak to the cleaners,” Gary replied, though it wasn’t exactly an informative answer.

“Right, and what’s so bad about the cleaners?”

“They’re really annoying and take their job far too seriously,” Gary explained, and Robbie nodded understandably, they sounded a lot like Jason and his work attitude towards the library.

“Well, at least it’s only a small stain.”

“I suppose so.” 

Gary then asked Robbie to watch the class and he was gone, leaving Robbie alone with a class of children who had no filter, much like himself.  
Fortunately though, when Gary returned, Robbie had not burned down the classroom or started a revolution but was actually getting along quite nicely with the class as he answered every little and odd question they had.

“Yes James, I do believe that cats may one day take over once they eventually gain apposable thumbs, next question,” Robbie said as he sat on the edge of Gary’s desk.

“Uh Robbie, what’s going on?” Gary questioned as he appeared by his side.

“Nothing, just answering their questions since they finished their work, now how’s the cleaner situation?” Robbie replied, and Gary briefly glanced between the children and Robbie with his mouth slightly open, as if he wanted to question them further, but was quick to shake his head and fix his gaze on Robbie again.

“Um they’re on their way but they weren’t happy,” Gary explained, causing Robbie to raise an eyebrow.

“Isn’t this their job? Why’re they getting upset?”

“I honestly don’t know, I’ve just given up with them.”

Just as Gary said that, the classroom door slammed open and two men came marching in. One was quite tall and muscular, probably the same height and size as Robbie, and the other was roughly average height and quite scrawny looking. The taller of the two had short brown hair and looked rather threatening while the smaller one, who was blonde haired, didn’t look physically threatening but carried a rather intimidating aura. They were both dressed in the standard coveralls and the blonde was wearing a pair of sunglasses that you couldn’t see through as well as carrying some cones, yellow tape, spray bottles, sponges and a bucket between them.

“Right, where’s the stain?” The blonde one asked once they’d come to a halt and turned their attention to Robbie and Gary.

“Um just over there on the carpet,” Gary replied, and the two nodded before approaching the carpet and standing over the stain before the blonde removed his sunglasses and looked at the class.

“Ok, so which one of you is responsible for this?” He questioned, and there was silence.

“Because I swear nobody else in the school causes so much mess like you lot, so I’d like the know who the culprit is this time.” Robbie could already tell why nobody liked speaking to the two.

“It was Katie!” A boy exclaimed before those surrounding her began to point fingers.

“Well Katie, I hope you understand just how serious this is and are feeling awful,” The blonde said before he began to unpack the stack of small plastic cones and place them in a circle around the stain.

“This is now a closed off area, nobody is to come within a metre of the scene,” The man announced as the taller of the two got to work with the yellow tape and began to attach to each cone, essentially closing the stain off like a crime scene. Robbie had now had enough because today was not the day to come in and pick on the children, not that it was ever the day to do that, but that day in particular was not great because Robbie was too tired to deal with these cleaners.

“I’m sorry but who the hell are you?” Robbie questioned, and the two looked at Robbie in confusion, as nobody had ever dared to speak to them like that.

“Dominic Howard and this is my colleague, Chris Wolstenholme, why do you care?” The blonde introduced himself.

“Because you’ve just come in here acting like it’s such a trial to clean up this tiny stain, which by the way is your job, and also picked on some child for an accident,” Robbie replied, and he felt Gary tug at his jacket sleeve as he said this.

“Rob, just leave it, they’ll only take longer if you argue,” Gary said but no, Robbie was not backing down from this injustice.

“Maybe it is our jobs but we don’t enjoy it and certainly don’t get paid enough for it so watch how you speak to us.”

“Nobody really enjoys their work that much and even if they do, nobody is getting paid enough for it unless their some upper class white man,” Robbie argued, but this only seemed to fuel the fire.

“Maybe that’s true but it doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t watch what they’re doing while we’re busy staying late every night in this building making sure it’s clean just for it to be trashed all over again.”

“Again, that is literally your job and also doesn’t excuse you upsetting this little girl.”

“Well maybe if we had some respect around here, we’d be less angry.”

“It’s not like there’s much to respect about cleaning, it’s not even that hard.” There was a silence.

“Right well if that’s how your feel, after this one, your cleaning services have been suspended until further notice,” Dominic eventually said before crouching down with Chris and beginning to sort out the mess.

“You’re joking, right?” Robbie asked, and Dominic simply shook his head casually.

“No, I’m really not.”

“Oh come on, this is stupid.”

“Just like our jobs I suppose.”

“Guys please, I didn’t mean it.”

“Sorry but until your officially apologise and tell us how important we are to society, then you are on your own,” Dominic said as he sprayed some green liquid on the stain and Chris began to dab it with a sponge silently.

“I’m not doing that, it’s ridiculous.”

“Rob, please,” Gary said, and Robbie may have been tempted if he’d looked at the pleading look on Gary’s face, but his gaze was fixed on the cleaners.

“I am not apologising to some bullies.”

“Then I’m afraid this is the end of our interactions with one another,” Dominic then said as he stood up with Chris.

“Jesus, can’t you just punish me in some way? Gary didn’t even do anything.”

“Sorry, this is a class thing now.”

Dominic and Chris and then gathered up their gear and exited the classroom without another word and Robbie could just feel the intense and annoyed gaze that was coming from Gary, even without looking at him.

“So, maybe I should’ve just left it,” Robbie then said as he slowly turned to look at Gary, who was looking up at him with his arms folded and a look that could kill better than Robbie, Jason or Howard combined.

“I think you should take five minutes outside Robbie.” _Fuck._

“Yeah, good idea.”

So maybe things _were_ going to change, just for the worse.


	14. A Favour

It was Tuesday, roughly half seven in the morning and Robbie was sat on a bench in the town centre with a cup of coffee in one hand and a muffin wrapper in the other. He was feeling more awake that morning after returning to the inn, after the disastrous events of Monday, and ranting to Jason once again when he finally returned before just passing out on his bed, earning himself a solid twelve-hour rest. Of course, he was feeling slightly groggy when he first awoke but that was the point of the coffee and by the time he’d sat on the bench, he was rested and ready to make amends.

From the moment he awoke he’d been planning on how to make it up to Gary, who after sending him out the classroom, had not spoken to him unless he really had to. Yeah, suspending the cleaning service in a school filled with small children, the messiest creatures on the planet, was perhaps not his most genius idea. So, he’d decided that he would visit the cleaners, apologise, earn their trust and services again and win Gary back, or at least his friendship considering things. 

“Morning Rob didn’t expect to see you out so early,” Howard greeted, suddenly appearing before Robbie in his uniform and snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Oh um, yeah, I woke up early and decided to make myself useful and fix this mess I made at the school,” Robbie explained as Howard shifted through a few letters in his hands.

“What did you do this time?” He asked, not even looking up at Robbie.

“I upset the cleaners because they were being stupid and upsetting this little girl over a tiny mess and now they refuse to clean Gary’s classroom,” Robbie said before finishing the remaining contents of his cup and throwing it in the bin beside him.

“What did you say to upset them so much?” Howard questioned, glancing up at Robbie briefly.

“I may have told them that they weren’t very respectable and that their jobs weren’t all that difficult,” Robbie said, and that caught Howard’s attention as his head snapped to attention.

“How could you even say that? Cleaners are an important part of our society, it’s because of them that we and our children are able to work in such clean and sanitary places,” Howard replied, and Robbie groaned, throwing his head back in frustration.

“I don’t know, I was tired and annoyed because they were taking things way too seriously,” Robbie said, though Howard seemed unconvinced.

“Are you sure about that? Because I think there’s another reason.” _God, how is everybody so good at reading you?_

“Ok, maybe it had something to do with my chances of being with Gary being ruined,” Robbie said, though he kept his voice low because while the town was pretty much deserted, he still didn’t trust that somebody important would over hear and make matters so much worse.

“What happened?” Howard asked, sitting beside Robbie.

“Well I basically went on a date with him, saw Jason and when we got back to Gary’s, we were literally about to kiss and then Jason called me up, asking if I was coming back or staying over at Gary’s, as if he literally hadn’t seen me like five minutes ago,” Robbie explained, and Howard looked concerned by this.

“Wait, Jason saw you on a date with Gary and _didn’t_ try to kill you or him?” 

“He didn’t know it was Gary, like we were positioned in the most fortunate way and he never found out.” Howard nodded to this in a way that made Robbie think he was going to then provide him with some kind of wisdom.

“So, if your chances are ruined, does it make it ok for me to kill him now?” _Why are you like this?_

“No, it really doesn’t, in fact, you’re making it sound like you were waiting for this to happen, like you had no faith in my romantic abilities,” Robbie said, and when Howard didn’t respond but instead continued to stare straight ahead, Robbie couldn’t help but let his jaw drop.

“You prick, you didn’t think I’d be able to get Gary!” Robbie exclaimed, but Howard shook his head.

“No, I didn’t think you’d be able to get Gary in _two weeks_ , if you had longer than I’d be totally behind you,” Howard replied, and Robbie scoffed.

“Please, you never have faith in me.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t,” Robbie said, turning away from Howard and crossing his arms.

“Yes, I do.”

“Nope, I don’t believe you.”

“Rob please.”

“See? Can’t even be arsed to try and prove it.”

“Well you know what? I have so much faith in you that I’m going to give you till the end of the week before I kill him,” Howard said, and hearing this, Robbie knew he had to take his chance.

“And Jason?” Robbie asked, looking at Howard with his eyebrow raised.

“I’ll keep him off your back, though I can’t say he’s really been making an effort.”

When Howard said that, Robbie was almost taken aback before realising that it was true. Jason hadn’t said or done anything to get rid of Gary. He just seemed to go to work at the library and then come straight back to the inn. It was slightly concerning to say the least because this probably meant that Jason was up to something and planning something big and flawless. The kill was never an official competition but they all liked to make it one, like if somebody got a rather impressive or important kill, they’d most likely brag about it or at least let it be known that they were the best out of the group. So, Jason spending so much time at the library was probably just a cover as he most likely spent every moment he could find just plotting Gary’s demise because sure, Jason was an old lady at times, but nobody was _that_ much of one that they’d forget all about such an important mission.

“Now that you mention it, he’s been suspiciously quiet about this whole thing considering how uptight he was when we first got here.”

“Well you what he’s like, always the solo worker when it comes to the job.”

“Didn’t you two used to team up all the time?” Robbie questioned, having vague flashbacks to their days back at the university stage of the program.

“Yeah but that was the early days, after a while we figured out our own styles and approaches and they just weren’t compatible in the end.”

“So kinda like your relationship?” 

“Yeah, I suppose so, though I still think there’s some hope for a good friendship with Jason again,” Howard said, though Robbie wasn’t as convinced, and not just because he didn’t want the two getting on until the mission was over, Jason was a man who was set on his ways.

“I don’t know about that, I think Jason is just going to spend the rest of his life in a state of bitterness and misery,” Robbie responded, and Howard was silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, I have faith in Jason, he just needs a push is all.”

“Well I suppose you know him better than anyone.”

After this, Robbie decided that he couldn’t prolong his plan anymore and said his goodbyes to Howard before standing up and making his way towards the school. 

Fortunately, when he arrived in the classroom, he found that Gary wasn’t in yet, which meant that he kept the element of surprise as he then made his way through the many corridors in search of the cleaner’s office, which Ayda had helpfully directed him towards.

Once he’d reached his destination, he found himself hesitating before actually knocking on the door. He was incredibly nervous because one, those guys were really strange and carried a “I’ve killed a guy” or at the very least, a “I know a guy who’s killed a guy” kind of vibe, which meant that they could murder him and get away with it because there was nobody around to even see it.

“What is it no-oh, hello Robbie,” Dominic greeted once he’d finally opened the door. _Wait, did you even tell them your name?_

“Um hi, I was wondering if we could talk?” Robbie replied, and Dominic seemed to scan him as he looked him up and down before nodding and stepping aside, allowing Robbie to enter.

The office was small but sufficient enough for the two with a desk on either side, a large shelving unit with all their supplies, some cones stacked in the corner and a couple of faded posters that they probably issued by the school long ago. Chris was sitting at one desk, reading a rather large book, which appeared to be covered in somebody’s handwriting, while Dominic simply sat down at his desk and spun his chair around to look at Robbie once he’d closed the door.

“Right, so I’m here to talk about your decision to suspend Gary’s cleaning services,” Robbie said, which seemed to catch Chris’ attention as he too spun around in his chair, closing his book as he did so.

“My decision which you pushed me to?” Dominic questioned, and Robbie had to fight the urge to let out a frustrated groan before simply nodding.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“Alright then, you have five minutes before we have to go and clean Matt’s classroom,” Dominic said, and Robbie wanted to inquire into why Matt’s classroom was cleaned in the morning instead of the evening, but knew his time was too precious for such a thing.

“Ok so I understand I offended you two yesterday and I just wanted to say I’m sorry, I was very tired and stressed yesterday because of a personal matter and I didn’t mean to disrespect you because you're incredibly important to society, I mean, you do the job that nobody wants to do, so I take back what I said, your job is respectful and difficult to accomplish when done well,” Robbie responded before watching nervously as the two cleaners shared a look with each other, as if they were communicating telepathically, before facing Robbie again.

“We appreciate your apology and accept it but unfortunately, we don’t think it’s enough,” Dominic finally said, and Robbie didn’t waste another second before responding.

“Not enough? What else do you want?” He asked, unable to comprehend just how he was supposed to make it up to the two.

“We want people to learn to pick up after themselves, I mean, the amount of juice cartons, pencil and rubber shavings just tossed or brushed onto the floor is ridiculous if I’m being honest, like would it honestly kill people to just pick some up and put them in the bin since we’re already wiping down the tables, dusting every surface, cleaning the windows and taking out the bins among many other things?” Dominic explained, and when he put it like that, he had a point.

“I suppose it wouldn’t really, so if I tell the kids to start picking up some things, will you clean Gary’s room again?”

“And you have to tell Gary to learn to use his interactive whiteboard because his regular one is just a rainbow of smudges right now since he’s always using it and never uses the right pens.” _God, this is going to be harder than when you had to teach Jason how to use a computer when we had to learn how to hack at the academy._

“Alright fine, do we have a deal?” 

“Chris, do you want anything?” Dominic then asked, turning to Chris, who seemed a little shocked to be included, before shaking his head.

“Alright then, you have a deal,” Dominic said as he turned back to Robbie and extended a hand, which he gladly accepted.

“Just know though, if you ever cross paths with us again, our vengeance will be swift and merciless,” Dominic said before smiling and releasing Robbie’s hand.

“Right, don’t worry, I think I’ll be keeping my distance.”

“Good, now if you’ll excuse us.”

Dominic and Chris then got up and started to gather their cleaning supplies before gesturing for Robbie to exit the room, which he did so without question. He then watched as Chris locked the room and the two started to walk down the corridor, and Robbie was quick to catch up because he still had to ask something important.

“So, why are you cleaning Matt’s room this morning?” Robbie asked once he’d caught up and matched their pace.

“Because we’re living with him at the moment because we're not getting paid enough to live in this village and he said that he doesn’t want us at the school at night any longer than we already are,” Dominic explained.

“Oh, well that’s really nice of him, he must care a lot about you two to lessen your work hours by even the smallest bit.”

“He does care but not for that reason, he doesn’t want us at the school because he’s convinced that there’s some extra-terrestrial creatures living in the vents waiting to eat us.” _Oh, ok…_

“Right, but another question, how did you guys even meet?”

“It was a couple of years ago when we first started working here, Chris and I were just eating lunch at one of the tables in the dining hall and then he just showed up, said he usually sat there alone because the other teachers didn’t want to sit with him, so we stuck around and talked to him because we felt bad for him but then he started talking about all his weird conspiracy theories and I dunno, he was really nice and clearly had a passion for justice and the people and we just kinda became friends, like we told him about our situation when we asked and he said he’d be glad to let us stay in his home, don’t even have to pay rent.” _Wow, I wish my friends were like that._

“I just thought he smoked a lot of weed,” Robbie replied, and Dominic laughed at this.

“Yeah, he does seem like that, doesn’t he? But he doesn’t, well I think he used to but not anymore but yeah, he’s harmless, just likes talking is all, don’t think he’s had many people to talk to, so when he finds somebody who’ll listen, he just jumps at the chance.” _Oh my god, why does Matt seem like us? Are we the crackhead friend who’s not actually on crack?_

“I feel kinda bad for thinking he was so weird.”

“Oh don’t, he is weird, just the right kind.”

It was then that they reached Matt’s classroom and they parted ways. Robbie then made his way into Gary’s classroom where he found Gary himself standing at the whiteboard, writing the day’s plan on as usual.

“Good morning Mr Barlow,” Robbie greeted as he waltzed up behind Gary, a smile on his face because he just knew that this was going to fix everything. _Ok but I could really get used to calling him that more._

“Morning Robbie,” Gary responded, not even turning to look at him as he wrote the date on the top of the board. _That’s ok, you’re about to blow his mind._

“So, I just wanted to say sorry for yesterday, but I’ve got some good news.”

“The cleaners aren’t going to kill you?” Gary questioned as he put the lid on the whiteboard pen and finally turned to look at Robbie.

“Well yes but I also got them to resume your cleaning services,” Robbie replied, and the look of disbelief on Gary’s face was almost worth all the trouble he’d been to.

“You’re joking, how? Those two are the most stubborn men I’ve ever met, well that is beside yourself,” Gary said, a smile actually appearing on his face, which continued to make this whole hassle all worth it.

“First of all, I think you should take a look at yourself and two, it was actually quite easy, I apologised and agreed to their terms,” Robbie explained, a victorious smile on his own face. However, it was then that Gary’s own smile disappeared.

“What exactly were their terms?”

“We have to start cleaning up a little more and another minor thing.”

“What is it?” Gary questioned, seeing right through Robbie.

“You may or may not have to start using the interactive whiteboard because let’s face it, this board is a bit of a mess,” Robbie said, and the look of horror in Gary’s eyes told Robbie that this was going to take some time to work on.

“We’ll work on it together, yeah?”

*  
“No food in the library,” Jason stated as snatched the biscuit out of the teenager’s hand and placed it in the little plastic bin he’d been wandering around the library with.

Jason was doing his rounds, making sure all was well and that nobody was breaking the rules or simply doing something unpleasant in his library. Unfortunately though, there had been quite a few rule breakers, which was what led to him carrying the bin around.

“Only water allowed on the premises.” And in the bin the bottle went.

“That’s not appropriate, turn it off before I do it myself,” Jason said as he passed by the computers.

“No running!” Jason called out to the small child, who was racing across to the children’s section.

Jason then approached the large circular table in the centre of the row of tables at the side of the building before sweeping all the wrappers and bottles that had been hidden on the chairs. After this he placed the bin down on the floor and let out a sigh. The job of a librarian was far too hard for just one man, which was why he felt a wave of irritation pass over him as he spotted Margaret and Joyce sitting at their desks and looking at the phone in Margaret’s hands.

He was quick to march over and get behind the desk before standing directly behind the two women. Jason cleared his throat and crossed his arm, which caused the two to turn around and look up him.

“Oh hello Jason dear, is everything alright?” Margaret said with a smile on her face.

“No, it’s not Margaret,” Jason replied, and a look of worry came onto the two’s faces.

“Oh no, what happened?”

“It’s absolute chaos out there and you two are just sitting here, doing nothing,” Jason explained, gesturing between the rest of the building and the two ladies with one arm, which caused the two to follow his arm before looking at each other and then at Jason.

“It looks fine to me,” Joyce said, and Jason sighed once again, hanging his head low for a moment.

“Of course you’d say that, that’s why this place was such a disaster when I got here, you can’t identify all the problems because you’re too soft on them and are too busy not doing your jobs.”

“Actually Jason dear, we’ve done all our work today, we’ve handled all the visitors that came to the desk and updated all the logs up to the letter E, tomorrow we’ll do F and onwards, but for now, we’re just keeping watch and looking at our photos of Mark’s engagement ring,” Margaret explained, and Jason just shook his head before sitting down in his desk chair before he did something he regretted. _Jesus, if I have to hear that little twink’s name once more, somebody is going to get it._

“I highly doubt the ring is that impressive that you had to take multiple photos of it,” Jason said, and the two shook their heads.

“But it is, it’s incredibly beautiful and reminded Joyce and I of our own engagement rings.”

“I’m assuming they were also really beautiful then?”

“Oh yes, the most beautiful rings in the country I think, which is also why we agreed to help him with the planning since our own wedding was just gorgeous, wasn’t it Joyce?” And while Joyce nodded in agreement, Jason took in the fact that the two were married to each other, which while he hadn’t known, actually made a lot of sense considering their close relationship.

“I see, and may I look at this ring of Mark’s?” Jason asked, mostly because he felt the two were exaggerating due to the fact that they were close with Mark and because it would’ve been Howard who picked the ring and Howard wasn’t exactly a picky man, he was practical.

“Of course, dear.” 

Margaret then turned her phone to Jason and he almost fell off his chair because Jesus, it really was a beautiful ring. In fact, it was so beautiful that Jason could just tell that Howard had not just picked it up on a whim, this had been searched for and it made Jason angry.

“It’s very lovely,” Jason then said before turning in his chair and deciding to get to work on the computer to distract himself from the rather painful subject.

_I really hate that man sometimes._

*  
When Howard entered the library, he was soaked through due to the fact that it had been pouring it down for a few hours at this point. He was here during his lunch break to ask Jason for a rather important favour.

As he approached the front desk, he saw Jason sitting at his computer, reading glasses on the bridge of his nose as he typed away at a snail’s pace. The sight made Howard smile because Jason had never been that good with technology and it made him seem a little more human and less like the stern killing machine he’d been taught to be. It also made him smile because it reminded him of when the two first met. 

The two had been sitting next to each other during their first IT lesson, which was to teach them how to hack and had become a skill that Howard was decent at by the time he’d completed his training. However, Jason had been struggling quite a bit and Howard had helped him out, which ended up leading to the two talking away for the rest of the lesson until they became good friends, doing practically everything together until this point in time. Even when they’d graduated and took on their own solo missions, they always made time for each other outside of work until the year of their casual meet ups happened, then it all just seemed to become focused on the meet ups. Well, to Jason it did anyway. Howard had always admired him and wanted to really be with him and so when he expressed this to Jason and was turned down in the nicest way possible really, Howard hung onto the meet ups until it hurt too much to be with him in such a way, and he moved on for his own sake.

“Hi Jason,” Howard greeted once he’d reached the desk.

“You’re not here for another favour, are you?” Jason responded as he looked up at Howard with a rather tired expression.

“Um yeah but I promise you’ll like this one,” Howard said, and Jason sighed in his usual manner before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

“What is it this time?” 

“Well, you know how you love to garden so much?” Howard said, which seemed to cause Jason’s interest to peak due to the questioning look in his eyes.

“Yes?”

“Well I know somebody whose garden is an absolute tip and I was wondering if you’d like to come out tomorrow and help them fix it?” Howard offered, and Jason certainly seemed interested now, which was exactly what Howard was hoping would happen because Jason loved a good challenge.

“Well I’d have to take the day off but yes, I’ll help, what’s their name?” _Well, you avoided it for as long as you could._

“Um, it’s actually Mark.” Jason was then quiet for a moment.

“I’m not doing it.”

“Oh, come on Jay, please.”

“No, I’m not helping that little twink.”

“You’ve never even met him, he’s really lovely.”

“I highly doubt it, anybody who agrees to get married to a man he hardly knows can’t be that lovely.”

“Jay, please, I’m doing this because I want you to meet him and see that he's not what you think, for the sake of our relationship and your own peace of mind,” Howard argued, but Jason shook his head.

“I don’t need to settle my mind How, it’s perfectly fine, if you want to run off and marry a stranger, you can do so, it’s not my decision.”

“I know it’s not, but I can see that you’re bothered by it.”

“I’m simply concerned, like any friend would be.”

“Yeah but we’re not just regular friends anymore Jay.”

“Maybe so but that doesn’t change anything, I’m fine,” Jason said in that “we’re done” tone of voice.

“No, you’re not, we really need to ta-”

“Ok I’ll do it if you’ll leave me in peace,” Jason stated, not allowing Howard to even finish his sentence.

“Are you sure?” Howard asked, unsure of whether this was because Jason refused to talk about his real feelings, because he was just sick of Howard or both?

“Yes, it’s fine, I’ll help him fix his bloody garden, but that’s it, ok? No more favours involving him,” Jason replied as he stood up.

Howard then found himself feeling rather happy about this and didn’t even think before he reached across the desk and pulled Jason into a tight hug, which obviously startled the other man as he froze upon impact.

“Thank you, Jay, I promise you won’t regret this,” Howard then said before releasing Jason, who relaxed once he was out of his death grip.

“I better not, otherwise you owe me.”

“And I will deliver on that should it happen to go wrong, which I highly doubt it will.”

“Sure it won’t but whatever, can I return to my work now?”  
“Oh, yeah, sorry, good luck with whatever you’re doing I guess.” And then Howard left.

Ok, now all he had to do was hope to god that Jason didn’t kill Mark and that Mark didn’t do anything would lead to his own demise. Easy.


	15. The Garden

When Jason awoke the following morning, the sun was just beginning to rise, and he had a feeling of dread in his stomach that he knew wouldn’t go away until he’d completed the task ahead of him. He was to go to Mark’s for 9am and he wasn’t going to be a second late, if anything, he was going to arrive early.

Jason didn’t waste any time before getting out of bed and readying himself for the day’s task, making sure to dig out his gardening clothes, which he never left home without because of situations like this, before jumping in the shower before Robbie had the chance to, considering he spent an absurd amount of time in the bathroom. 

Once he was dressed and had eaten, Jason was out the door and making his way to Mark’s house for the second time since he’d arrived in the town. He had been meaning to go back after the fining incident the week before but had found himself being too preoccupied by the library to go back at a decent time, in fact, Jason had been so busy with the library that he hadn’t even had a chance to investigate or kill Gary Barlow. Though, it wasn’t the worst thing because Robbie, who had been working incredibly close to Gary and saw him practically every day, hadn’t even made a move. It was also noticeable that Howard hadn’t been trying either but that was most likely due to his relationship with Mark and, like Jason, the distraction of a new fake job.

Fortunately, Mark didn’t live too far away and when Jason arrived, he was roughly fifteen minutes early, which was precisely when he wanted to arrive. Not early enough to be considered over the top and weird but not late enough to not cause some kind of rush or inconvenience to the little man when Jason knocked on the door. He waited a few minutes before the door opened and Jason came face to face with Howard, which was completely unexpected and so he was quick to raise his head.

“Oh, morning Jason, you’re early,” Howard greeted, stepping aside to allow Jason in.

“Yeah, I was already awake and thought it wouldn’t really make too much difference, sorry if I disrupted anything,” Jason responded as he stepped inside, and Howard closed the door.

“You’re alright, gave Mark a bit of a shock though, thought he’d overslept or something,” Howard explained as he came further into the kitchen.

“Is he upstairs?” Jason questioned, unable to hear any movement.

“Yeah, should be getting dressed right now.”

“Right…um shouldn’t you be at work by now anyway?” Jason asked, feeling the threat of an awkward silence looming above them.

“Yeah but I just wanted to make sure everything was alright with you two before I left.”

“Howard, I’m not going to murder him y’know?” Jason responded, folding his arms as he did so.

“I know but you sort of scared him last time you talked.”

“Well perhaps he shouldn’t have tried to get out of paying his fine, which by the way, he still hasn’t done.”

“He’ll get round to it eventually, he’s just busy and forgets these things.”

“Busy doing what? I mean, what could be so important that he can’t take out ten minutes to pay his library fine.”

“Jay, look-” Howard however never finished his sentence as he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps rushing down the stairs.

Mark had finally showed himself and Jason wasn’t sure what to think when he saw what he was wearing as he stood on the bottom step of the staircase, which went over the side of the kitchen where the counters and cupboards were. Mark was dressed in a pair of denim dungarees, a stripy, black and white long sleeve shirt, a possibly women’s sun hat, which had a little flower attached to it, and some wellington boots. Now, the contents of the outfit were fine, quite practical really, even if it was October and the hat really wasn’t necessary, but there was something that really threw Jason off and annoyed him. The clothes looked practically brand new.

“What do you think? I think I look really cute,” Mark questioned as he put his hands on his hips, modelling his look.

“I think you look absolutely stunning,” Howard said as he stepped over to the smaller man and wrapped his arms around him, and Jason knew he had to put a stop to this nonsense.

“Um Mark, quick question, but am I a joke to you?” Jason asked, and it worked a charm as it almost instantly caused the two to separate as Howard turned to look at Jason with the same puzzled look as Mark had plastered across his face.

“Um could you repeat that?” Mark responded, and Jason sighed before approaching Mark.

“I said, am I a joke to you?” The fear and worry in Mark’s eyes as Jason stood directly in front him, making direct eye contact made Jason feel very powerful indeed.

“Jay, come off it,” Howard said from the side, reminding Jason that he probably was pushing his luck, but he didn’t really care at that moment.

“No, I need to know, so answer the question, Mark.”

“No? What makes you ask that?”

“Because your outfit is an insult to my passion,” Jason explained, his voice at a level of calm that should have been impossible considering how furious he was inside.

“I don’t really understand, I thought it was quite practical,” Mark said as he looked down at himself.

“It is practical and far better than what I was expecting you to wear.”

“But?”

“But it looks brand new.”

“That’s because it is, I got it specially for this,” Mark explained, looking almost proud of this fact.

“Well that’s ridiculous,” Jason shot back, shattering the pride instantly.

“Again, I don’t really follow.”

“Mark, gardening is an art and takes patience, focus and passion but above all else, it’s messy and dirty,” Jason replied, and Mark slowly nodded, though it was obvious that he still wasn’t understanding the very obvious problem.

“Ok, let me rephrase that, you’re going to be out in the garden and in the dirt, using some sharp and some dangerous equipment, which will stain your clothes or harm you, so why did you get some new clothes? Most people wear their old and ruined clothes for things like this,” Jason explained, and it was then that _something_ seemed to click in Mark’s mind.

“Oh, I get you now, but if I’m being completely honest Jason, I don’t have anything old or ruined,” Mark responded, only furthering Jason’s frustration.

“You don’t own anything like this?” Jason asked, gesturing to his own stained track suit bottoms and jumper.

“No, I don’t keep it if it’s ruined or too old.” It was like he was dealing with some kind of alien.

“So you’re ok if this gets ruined?” Jason questioned, and the look of horror on Mark’s face gave Jason no hope of advancement.

“Of course I do, this is new.” Jason felt like he was about ready to shut down as he stood silently, unable to find the right response.

However, Howard, the saint he was, seemed to notice this and so pulled Mark aside and began to whisper something to the little man, whose eyes lit up as he did so.

“Really? Tonight?” He said, looking up eagerly.

“Yes but only if you do exactly as Jason says and sort out that garden, ok?” Howard replied, and Mark nodded, a bit too enthusiastically for Jason’s liking.

“Right then, I’ll leave you two to get to work, so I’ll see you later at about six,” Howard then said before pulling Mark in for a quick side hug, planting a kiss on top of his hat and then leaving without another word.

The silence that descended over the two was heavy and uncomfortable, which didn’t improve their situation at all. Jason wasn’t sure if he could manage a whole day with Mark, especially after how much time had been wasted over such a trivial matter, which yes, was Jason’s fault in the first place, but Mark certainly didn’t make it any easier.

“Right, I think it’s time I see just how bad this garden of yours is,” Jason then said, and Mark seemed to jump slightly upon hearing this, most likely lost in his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah, just this way,” Mark responded before stepping down from the stairs and leading Jason to the backdoor, taking him past the basement door.

“I don’t know why How was making such a fuss, I think it looks quite nice,” Mark remarked as he turned the keys in the door and opened the door.

It was then that the two finally entered the garden and Jason was paralysed upon seeing the catastrophe that laid before him. The garden was an absolute mess. There was no sign of any healthy grass or living plant life to be seen and not just because it hadn’t been tended to but because it was almost impossible to actually see the garden itself. The whole patch of grass was a sea of garden ornaments as far as the eye could see. This was unlike anything Jason had ever dealt with or even heard of.

“So, what do you think?” Mark asked, reminding Jason just who was responsible for such a horrendous crime and freeing him for his frozen state as he whipped around to face Mark.

“There are no words to describe this garden Mark.”

“Aw, thank you, I think it’s quite lovely too,” Mark said, a smile on his face.

“That wasn’t a compliment.” The smile dropped.

“This is not a garden, this is a crime against nature, a crime that I will not stand by and allow to exist any longer than it has done.”

“Oh, I didn’t think it was that bad, I thought Howard was just exaggerating.”

“You can’t even see the grass clearly under all this rubbish.”

“It’s not rubbish, it’s cute and I need it all.” Now this felt like something that had most likely been used before.

“Is that what you said about your duvets?” Jason argued, and Mark’s looked incredibly upset by this and looked as though he was going to argue before something seemed to dawn on him.

“Yes, which is why I’m seeing the problem, I don’t need all this stuff and I suppose I’ll move some of it.” _Wow, that was really grown up of him._

“Ok then, well where’s your wheelbarrow?” Jason questioned.

“Um it’s in the shed I think,” Mark replied, pointing to the small wooden shed at the bottom of the “garden”.

“Go get it, I need it,” Jason instructed, and Mark obviously understood that he was in no position to argue or make demands as he quietly nodded and made his way to the shed, making sure not to step on anything as he did so.

Eventually it was brought to Jason and he didn’t waste any time before leaning over the grass and picking up a few identical statues of hedgehogs.

“What are you going to do with them?” Mark asked, concern in his voice.

“I’m going to get rid of them.” Mark gasped.

“You can’t do that, they’re a family,” Mark responded as if this changed anything.

However, Jason had no mercy for the family or for Mark as he immediately chucked them in the wheelbarrow, which led to the little man to bring a hand to his mouth.

“Oh my god, Harold,” Jason heard Mark say under his breath.

“I’m sorry Mark but Harold and his family have to go, along with ninety percent of these atrocities.”

“You’re going to get rid of almost all of my ornaments?” Mark asked as Jason continued to toss more statues away.

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Jason groaned before looking at Mark properly.

“Because Mark, I can barely see the grass and there’s not one living plant in this garden, or at least that I can see anyway,” Jason explained before getting straight back to work and tossing a few little frog statues away.

“Can’t they just live in the shed or in my house?”

“No.”

“Why?” Jesus, he was worse than Robbie when he couldn’t have his way.

“Because there’s not enough room and I was asked to sort out this mess by your fiancé, my best friend, and I’m going to do just that.”

“I thought he was your ex?”

“He is but I still consider him as my best friend, which is what he has been since I first met him, but that is beside the point, so stop talking and help me chuck these in here,” Jason replied, and Mark sighed.

“Ok.”

The next hour was spent throwing many statues in the wheelbarrow, arguing with Mark over whether he could keep one every time he picked one up, repeatedly telling him no, and then pushing the wheelbarrow aside, so it was out of the way and out of Mark’s reach for the time being.

“Ok then, now that I can actually see the grass, I think it needs a good cut, so get the lawnmower.” And Mark did so.

“Now, I’m going to assume that you have never used this in your entire life?”

“Um no.”

“Well you know what they say, no better way to learn than on the job,” Jason said, and he could see just how pained Mark was when he heard this.

Jason then took a bit of pity on Mark and decided to plug it in for him and even give him a good starting point before dragging him over to it.

“Right, so just turn it on and cut away,” Jason explained, and Mark looked incredibly hesitant as he did so, even jumping slightly at the loud noise that came from it.

Mark was a bit slow at first but once he got going, he seemed to make a decent job of it all. Jason almost felt like a proud teacher or mother who’d taught a child to do something, except it was a basic and rather simple skill. It took Mark about half an hour to complete the task but once he’d finished, the garden was already looking ten times better than it had done.

“Alright, what’s next?” Mark questioned, wiping a hand across his forehead, though Jason hadn’t seen a single drop of sweat and so assumed that he was just being dramatic about the job.

Jason then realised at this point that it was the perfect opportunity to investigate the basement because he’d been planning to get some winter flowers for the garden as he’d been waiting for Mark to finish mowing the grass. However, now it was clear that he could just give Mark the name of the flowers and send him off to pick on his own, act like it was a reward and a sign of trust, while in fact it was just a way of sending Mark off for an hour or so because it was obvious that he was a picky man and so would spend quite a while deciding or simply buying as many as he so desired.

“Well I think the garden just needs some nice flowers around the outer rim,” Jason replied, and Mark looked behind him and then back at Jason with the same puzzled face he’d had on for most the day.

“But isn’t it a bit cold to plant flowers?” He questioned.

“Usually but there's quite a few types of flowers that can survive the winter, so in light of this fact and because I trust you, I’m going to make a list of some of these flowers and you can go off on your own and pick some out, which I’ll help you to plant when you return,” Jason explained, and the smile that appeared on Mark’s face when he said he trusted him made Jason feel a little guilty, but he was quick to push it aside.

“Really? _You_ trust _me_ to get something so important on my own?” 

“Of course I do, I mean you are Howard’s fiancé after all and anybody good enough for him is good enough to pick out some flowers,” Jason said, and he saw that if hadn’t heard that ominous call when he first broke in, he’d probably like Mark a lot more and wouldn’t have to lie.

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

“I’ll just keep watch of the garden and see if everything else is good,” Jason lied.

Next thing Jason did was write up the flowers on a piece of paper before handing it to Mark and sending him on his way, waving to him as he practically skipped off down the path until he was out of sight. Then Jason made his move.

He rushed over to the basement door but found that there was a padlock attached to it. Fortunately for Jason, he was top of his class when it came to picking locks and so this was a trivial task and he was finished in under a minute.

Once he was inside, he felt around for a switch before finding it and flipping it on. He then carefully made his way down the old, creaky stairs until he reached the bottom where he found a number of boxes spread across the room and stacked on top of one another. They were labelled with the usual things such as Christmas decorations, books and things to throwaway. Nothing unusual at first glance.

However, Jason wasn’t fooled for a moment and so began to look inside the one’s without a label. Unfortunately though, he only found some rather ugly knitted jumpers and mittens in one, some rather old looking china plates and cups in another and then some possibly childhood toys such as a few teddy bears, though Jason wouldn’t find it too hard to believe if they were recent purchases considering the theme of the household. These boxes were unusual to say the least, but they weren’t suspicious.

In fact, it looked so normal that Jason was about ready to give until he saw a faint light coming from behind a wall of boxes at the back of the basement, which he only then realised weren’t completely up against the wall but were clearly there to hide something. So, he got to work on bringing the wall down as quickly as possible as he wasn’t entirely sure how much time he had left. 

It didn’t take too long, and Jason quickly found a desk hiding behind the wall with a little desk lamp switched on still. Now _this_ was suspicious. Jason didn’t waste any time in opening the drawers where he found a little wooden box in one, some plastic files in another and then discovered that there was also a locked drawer, which he decided to leave for the time being.

Jason decided to open the box first, hoping to find something that prove Mark guilty of anything, and he wasn’t disappointed. Inside was a number of passports for all over the world and they were clearly fake, though to the untrained eye they were perfect copies. 

Next, he moved onto the files in an attempt to connect the passports to something because alone they could mean anything. Mark could be running from somebody or he could’ve been supplied them and needed them for a job, most likely in Jason’s department. However, most of them were empty aside from one. Inside this file was a pile of handwritten letters, all of which were addressed to Mark and signed by a “G.B” and Jason knew exactly who that was.

Now, Jason didn’t waste too much time reading them thoroughly due to his limited time, but he did gather that Gary Barlow was in trouble and running from someone. He also learned that whoever he was running from, Mark also knew or had had past connections to them and so that was why they were writing them by hand and were coming from multiple locations. Jason never imagined that he’d find such things against Mark because he was clearly involved or had been involved in some incredibly dangerous business with Gary. 

Jason then decided to finish up quickly and started to pick the lock on the last drawer as the other was empty. This was also done fairly quickly and when he finally opened it up, he knew that there was no way that Mark was surviving the week with what he’d found. There was a knife and pistol inside the draw, which told Jason everything that he had to know. Mark, somehow, was just like Jason, Howard and Robbie, a murderer.

It actually brought a smile to Jason’s face because he'd been right this whole time. He could talk to Howard and tell him just how much Mark had been hiding from him, break them up and put everything back to the way it was before. Of course this was all for the safety of Howard and not a desperate attempt to have him back. No, absolutely not.

Jason then decided to quickly pack everything away and return to the garden because he’d spent a rather long time in the basement and he couldn’t risk Mark finding him. However as he did so, he started to connect the dots. Jason, Howard and Robbie had been sent to kill Gary, who had clearly made an enemy of the organisation they all worked for, and he had come to the village where Mark had moved to for his own reasons because they were close and clearly shared the same occupation and so would be safe because Mark clearly knew how to disappear. Now, it was unclear as to who exactly the two worked for and what exactly had brought Mark to village and what Gary had done to cause him to become an enemy of the organisation, but Jason couldn’t shake the feeling that this was closer to himself than what he’d been told. Gary did look familiar and he clearly worked in the assassination business but where did he recognise him from? He wracked his brain for an answer as he made his way up the stairs and as he locked the door again, but nothing came to mind. 

Soon enough though, Mark returned with quite a few potted flowers and they got to work with planting them, Jason finding it difficult to focus after seeing everything that had been in the basement. He was planting flowers with a murderer, no, he was planting flowers with his best friend’s fiancé, who was also a murderer just like he was. What if Mark knew about Howard? What if this whole relationship was just a way to find out why the three of them had been sent in the first place? Mark was clearly cleverer than he let on and so it wouldn’t be too far a reach. Mark wanted answers and Howard wanted a proper relationship. God, it was so simple, and all Mark had to do was sleep with him a few more times and he’d get exactly what he wanted because Howard was completely infatuated with him.

Many questions and thoughts clouded Jason’s mind for a few hours, even with Mark rambling on in the background. They occupied his mind until the sound of the backdoor brought him back to reality.

The two turned to look and saw it was Howard, and Mark didn’t waste another second before he leapt up from where’d he’d been kneeling over the dirt and rushed over to the taller man, practically leaping into his arms and kissing him. Jason then stood up in response to the arrival, dusted off his hands and then approached the two before clearing his throat, which was quite effective as the two were quick to separate.

“It looks good out here,” Howard said as he placed Mark back on the floor.

“Yeah, we haven’t really done much to be fair, it was just so cluttered and looked far worse than what it really was,” Jason explained, folding his arms to hide the fact that he was just dying to take Howard aside and expose the little murderous thot stood beside him.

“Well thanks again, you’ve done me a massive favour and I promise I’ll pay you back, but you’re free to leave now if you want.”

“It’s alright and if you don’t mind, will you walk me out?” Jason asked, and Howard nodded before gesturing for him to move first.

The two then entered the house silently before exiting it again out the front door. Now was Jason’s chance, now he would finally know some peace.

“Ok, so before I g-” Jason was cut however cut off by Howard pulling him into a tight embrace like he’d done the day before, but this time it threw Jason completely off guard, wiping his mind of everything he’d wanted to say.

The embrace was nice and comforting and Jason even managed to wrap his own arms around Howard this time. Maybe it was because Jason hardly ever hugged people or received them himself or even just because he and Howard rarely shared such moments together, even during all their years together, but Jason didn’t want to let go. He just wanted to sink into it and let his mind rest for a moment, but he couldn’t have that because he only wanted to do that with Howard and he wasn’t his anymore. He’d thrown it all away and now he wasn’t even sure if he’d ever have him back.

“Thank you so much Jay, I honestly don’t think I could have a better friend than you,” Howard said, and Jason for a moment thought he was going to cry. Nobody, and he really meant nobody, had ever called Jason a good friend.

Jason didn’t even get to respond before the moment was over and Howard had let go, a smile on his face as he spoke again.

“Right, well I suppose I’ll let you get on your way, make sure Rob hasn’t burnt down the inn or anything.”

“Yeah, probably for the best,” Jason responded, a little smile on his own face.

“I suppose I’ll just see you around soon.”

“Um yeah, about that, could we maybe meet up tomorrow? There’s something I need you to know, something important,” Jason asked, and Howard seemed surprised by this but he nodded all the same.

“Um yeah, just text me where and when, alright?”

“Ok, see you then.”

“See you then.”

Jason then began his walk back to the inn as Howard returned inside and he was feeling incredibly conflicted. He didn’t know what was going to happen when he revealed the truth, but he knew that it was for the best.

His mind however continued to stay awake even long after he laid down that night, trying its best to remember just where he’d seen Gary Barlow’s face before and how he was connected to Mark and everything else. It got to a point where Jason thought he’d never figure it out until he was suddenly hit with a memory from years ago.

He remembered it now. Jason knew exactly who Gary Barlow was.


	16. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare for your hearts to get ripped out.

_It was an unusually warm spring evening and Jason had been sitting on the university’s field where all the athletic students spent their days. It was the end of the school day, so nobody was around aside from the football club, who were stationed on the other side of the grass. Jason often came to this spot during that time of year because it was too cool for anybody to want to be out at that time but also not hot enough for people to want to lounge about with their mates. He came to the same spot to read a book or write something as the sun slowly descended, casting a beautiful orange glow over the grass, before he’d eventually return to his dorm._

_“Jason!” A familiar voice called out, causing Jason to look up from his notebook to see a tall figure approaching him, a figure that made Jason mentally sigh as he closed his book and put his pen down._

_“Hi Rob,” Jason greeted as then Robbie eventually reached him and stood towering over him._

_Robbie Williams was a new friend of Jason’s at this time as they’d only met each other through their common friend, Howard. Robbie was a boy with an incredibly weak sense of focus, was quite changeable and while he usually gave whatever it was he was doing a hundred percent if it was something of interest, he was never able to stay on it unless it was particularly stimulating. Jason didn’t mind his company sometimes but there were other times, like that day, where he just couldn’t be bothered with Robbie’s need to be constantly entertained._

_“You alright?” Robbie asked as he sat himself down beside Jason._

_“Yeah, just enjoying the weather,” Jason responded, and Robbie nodded and then there was a moment of silence, which Jason would have liked to stay, but he could tell by the way that Robbie was beginning to fidget and pick at the grass that he really wanted to tell Jason something._

_“Are you alright, Robbie?” Jason questioned, and Robbie’s head shot straight up, the excitement he was obviously feeling barely being contained in his eyes._

_“Yeah actually, I was just at the smoking area and you’ll never guess what happened.”_

_“What happened?”_

_“I saw Dave, the coach who’s a dickhead, and he was just smoking away, like I thought people who taught fitness were supposed to be like the epitome of health, but apparently not, he was just smoking away like his life depended on it,” Robbie explained, and Jason failed to understand just what was so spectacular about this._

_“And?”_

_“And then he when he finished, he saw me, obviously didn’t know I’d seen him, and comes up to me and gives me a lecture about the effects of smoking!” Robbie exclaimed, and Jason was going to respond to this rather minor story but then Robbie kept going._

_“Yeah but then things went south really fast because I wasn’t actually smoking at the time but I did have a box of cigarettes in my hand, which led to me panicking half way through the lecture because he was really aggressive and my anxiety was just not having that today, so I may have accidentally told him that they were your cigarettes and that you have a huge smoking problem.”_

_“Jesus Rob, why’d you do that?” Jason questioned, and Robbie shrugged._

_“I don’t know, I panicked.”_

_“Yeah, I caught that but why’d you throw me into it?”_

_“I honestly have no idea but don’t worry, I told him that you were seeking help and he offered to have weekly sessions with you, so you can thank me later I suppose.”_

_“Thank you for what? For saving me from an addiction that I don’t actually have?”_

_“Yeah, you could’ve gotten into real trouble with Dave if I hadn’t told him that.”_

_“I could’ve been in no trouble if you’d just kept me out of it.”_

_“I mean, I guess so but at least I took some responsibility for my mistake.”_

_“You really didn’t, taking responsibility would be telling the truth,” Jason explained, and Robbie seemed to think over this for a moment before shrugging._

_“Maybe but it’s too late now,” He responded, and Jason was just about ready to drag Robbie to Dave’s office and make him explain the truth, but never got that far as another recognisable figure came towards the two. It was Howard._

_“Rob, Dave’s looking for you,” Howard said as he came into earshot._

_“What? Why?” Robbie asked, looking around as if the coach was just lurking around the field._

_“Something about needing to talk to you about the smoking area?”_

_“Well I think I’ll just be heading back to our room then,” Robbie then said before searching the field one last time and taking off, leaving Jason alone with Howard, though he wasn’t going to complain._

_Jason had met Howard at the beginning of the year in that one IT lesson because he couldn’t use a computer to save his life. They grew close quite fast and Jason valued their time together because Howard was a good friend and made Jason laugh more than anybody else. He also liked having Howard around because while Jason was liked by the staff and the best-behaved students in his classes, he wasn’t exactly popular with the one’s that were considered as “cool” and “rebellious”. It was because of this fact that Jason had been surprised that Howard had wanted to be his friend because Howard was considered to be one those “cool” students, mostly because he looked the part and kept to himself and so everybody wanted to know more about him and hang around him._

_It hadn’t taken Jason long to develop some deeper feelings for Howard, though at this time he wasn’t entirely sure whether they were entirely romantic or simply sexual because sometimes he liked the idea of a relationship with him but mostly he just really wanted to be intimate with Howard. Nobody would even blame him either because it was agreed by almost every student that Howard had an almost god like body for somebody as young as himself._

_“I can’t believe Dave figured him out all ready,” Jason said, and Howard shook his head as he sat down next to Jason, stretching his legs out and leaning back on his hands._

_“He didn’t, I heard him talking to some other lecturer about it and I told him the truth,” Howard responded, and Jason tilted his head slightly in confusion._

_“Isn’t Rob your mate?” Jason questioned, and Howard nodded but didn’t explain just why he’d done such a thing._

_“Then why’d you do it?” Jason asked, unable to let this go because he had quite a few trust issues during this time in his life._

_“Because you’re a good guy and I don’t want to see you get it in the neck for something Robbie said because he panicked,” Howard explained, his gaze fixed on the football team, who were busy packing up their equipment for the day._

_“Well thanks I guess, I don’t think anybody’s ever done that for me before,” Jason said, and Howard looked at him._

_“What? Sacrificed their mate to Dave?” Howard asked, and Jason laughed a little._

_“No, gone out of their way for me without wanting something in return.”_

_“Does this happen to you a lot?”_

_“Not anymore but it used to.”_

_“What exactly happened?” Howard questioned, a look of concern on his face._

_“Well as you may be aware, I hold a bit of sway here because I’m liked by the staff and I hold a few important titles, and this led to a few people getting close with me just to get a favour and then they’d leave,” Jason explained, and Howard shook his head._

_“I’ve never understood people like that, like why would you go through so much trouble just to use somebody, surely it would just be easier to just be friends instead of manipulating them and hurting them.”_

_“I don’t know but if I’m honest, using me wasn’t even the worst part, it’s just the fact that they pretend that I don’t even exist, as if they hadn’t even spent the last however many weeks pretending to my friend, they just take what they want and go, no thank you, no goodbye and no recognition, they move on as if I’ll just do the same,” Jason responded before looking across at Howard, their eyes meeting._

_“What makes you trust me then?”_

_“I’m not really sure if I’m honest, just a gut feeling I suppose,” Jason replied, and Howard smiled at this._

_“Your gut must be desperate if it’s willing to put up with me and Rob.”_

_“Maybe…or maybe I’m just tired of being alone,” Jason said, and Howard nodded before turning away, looking up at the sky and closing his eyes._

_“Well, I promise I won’t leave you Jay, I won’t leave you alone.” And Jason believed it._

*  
It was roughly half past five the following day after Jason’s discovery and the sun was already beginning to descend as he stood awaiting Howard’s arrival. There was a light chill in the air as Jason stood in the centre of the small woodland area on the outskirts of the village. He was clutching his arms, wishing he’d brought a coat instead of just coming out in his jumper because he’d left in a rush from the library and hadn’t expected Howard to show up late. He’d arranged for the two to meet after Howard had finished at work since he supposedly finished at five on a Thursday, though Jason was beginning to have doubts considering the lateness.

However, he then began to worry like usual because what if something had happened? What if Mark had found out? What if he’d become suspicious and their meet up had simply served to confirm it and he had done something to Howard in retaliation? He knew he shouldn’t have left it so late.

“Jay!” _Oh thank god._

Jason turned from where he’d been leaning against a tree to see Howard approaching him, looking a lot warmer than Jason despite not even wearing much more than a jacket over his shirt. In fact, Jason hadn’t expected Howard to be dressed so casually considering he had supposedly just come from work.

“Where’ve you been? I thought something had happened.” Jason asked as he came closer to Howard.

“I went home to change.”

“Why? I thought you were coming straight from work?”

“Well I was but it’s bloody cold out and I’m not meeting you at this time in my shorts.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have had to rush if I’d known.”

“It didn’t really cross my mind, sorry.” And Jason sighed before shaking his head.

“Ok, well never mind, there’s something far more important we need to talk about.”

“Right, the important thing you really need me to know about.”

“Yes, so before I begin, I want you to know that is coming from a good place, ok? I’m not telling you this to hurt you and ruin anything, I just want what’s best for you,” Jason said, and Howard nodded as if he understood or knew what was coming, though Jason highly doubted it.

“It’s about Mark, he’s-” Howard sighed loudly, completely cutting Jason off.

“For god’s sake Jay, you’ve dragged me out here just to complain about Mark?” Howard questioned, his voice already sounding quite irritable, which wasn’t a good sign considering it usually took a lot to make Howard angry.

“No, I’ve _asked_ you out here to tell you something very important about Mark, which I think will make you reconsider everything you have with him,” Jason said, but Howard didn’t look convinced.

“Y’know when you said you had something important to say yesterday, I really thought we were going to talk about us for once instead of just pretending like it never happened and that you’re not ok, but I obviously have too much faith in you.” _Ok, that kind of stung._

“How, please just hear me out, I swear this isn’t just some act of jealously, it’s serious.” Jason said, meeting Howard’s stern eyes with his own, which apparently worked because Howard then sighed in defeat.

“Alright but I’m only willing to hear so much, so make it quick.”

“Thank you, right, well there’s no easy way to say this but Howard, Mark’s been lying to you.”

“You mean like he’s cheating kind of lying?”

“No, like he’s not who he says he is, he’s not some innocent florist, ok?” Jason said, but the more he spoke the more he seemed to lose Howard.

“Right, so just who is he then?” Howard questioned, though it was obvious that he wasn’t entirely convinced of such lies.

“He’s like us, he’s a killer,” Jason replied, and that’s when Howard shook his head.

“Ok, I’ve heard enough, you’re just being ridiculous,” Howard said, turning away but Jason was quick to reach forward, grab his hand and turn him back.

“Please How, trust me,” Jason practically pleaded, making sure to never break his gaze from Howard.

“Ok, so maybe you’re telling the truth, where’s your evidence?” Jason sighed in relief as he let go of the hand.

“Ok, so I broke into his basement yesterday because the first time you sent to get your phone, I overheard him on the phone talking about how he’d been through it but couldn’t find anything suspicious, he then left because he had to get rid of something in the basement, so when you asked me to help, I took the opportunity to investigate, and I wasn’t disappointed because-”

“You used Mark and betrayed my trust to get what you wanted?” 

“What?” Jason asked, unsure of just how the whole reason for this investigation had been ignored.

“You heard me.”

“I didn’t _betray_ your trust, I really did want to help, but I didn’t see why it would hurt to kill two birds with one stone.”

“But you still used Mark, yes? You lied to him, made him feel like you were bonding and that you trusted him when really you were just getting rid of him?”

“It was necessary, I don’t see how I’m the bad guy when he literally went through your phone to make sure you weren’t a threat?”

“So I’m just supposed to believe that Mark, my fiancé, is a killer because you apparently heard a phone call, which you probably didn’t even hear all of?”

“No, I found proof in the basement.”

“Such as?”

“Fake passports, letters from Gary Barlow, who is running from somebody and so came to this village because Mark had managed to disappear here, but he also had a knife and a gun locked away, he’s obviously an assassin and he clearly knows you are too because why else would he be able to hack your phone and have such things in his basement, so I’m sorry that this is the case but Mark’s lying and is a threat to you and our mission,” Jason explained, and he was surprised to be met with silence.

“I know it’s a lot to take in but-”

“You’re lying.”

“What? How could you even say that after what I’ve told you? It’s too complicated to be made up.”

“No, that’s exactly why I can say that, you’re the only person I know that would be able to make up such a story and sell it so well, but I’m sorry, I’m not buying it, you’re just saying this because you’re jealous and can’t handle the fact that you can’t have me whenever you want anymore,” Howard shot back, and Jason didn’t know why it hurt so much to hear those words when they weren’t even true, Jason couldn’t have cared less about their past relationship, even if everybody else seemed to disagree.

“I’m not lying, this is too serious, we need to talk to Mark and make him confess.”

“We don’t because there’s nothing to confess, just give it up Jay, I’m done,” Howard said before turning once more and beginning to walk away.

“Why won’t you listen to me?” Jason called out, and that was when Howard stopped and spun around.

“Because I’ve been listening since I met you! I’ve listened to how everybody hated you for being the best, I’ve listened to how they used you and I’ve listened to you tell me that you’ll never meet somebody like me again, how much you care and act like we’re going somewhere, but you led me on, whether you realised it or not, it really hurt but I thought that maybe you’d gain something from us splitting up, but now all I see is that you’ve become just like all those people you hated, you use people and pretend like it never happened because you can’t face up to just how much damage you’ve caused!” Howard exclaimed, and Jason was stunned for a moment before it really sunk in just what had been said and then he found himself feeling angry.

“I am nothing like those people, I meant it when I said I’d never meet somebody like you, I meant it when I said I cared about you, and I certainly didn’t just drop you the moment we ended, I still wanted to be friends unlike them, so don’t you dare compare me to them, I’m telling the truth and I want you to be safe believe it or not,” Jason argued, but Howard didn’t seem to believe a word of it.

“You say that, but your actions and your obvious issues with us say otherwise.”

“Bloody hell, what do you want from me? Do you want me to tell you how I can’t cope without you or something? Because I’d just be lying, I’m fine and some people do recover quickly.”

“Not this quickly, unless it didn’t mean anything to them.”

“Right, we are going way off course here, so I’ll tell you again unless you forgot, Mark is a killer like us and most likely knows why you’re here, so call me a liar all you want but I swear that if you go down into that basement, you’ll see exactly what I told you I found,” Jason explained once again.

“I’m not going to do that because while I can’t do the same for you anymore apparently, I trust Mark and won’t go digging around where I don’t belong.”

“You’ve not even known him for two weeks!”

“Yeah, so that says a lot about you considering I’ve known you for years and I can’t do that for you anymore, so I’m sorry Jay but I think it’s best if we go our separate ways once the contract expires,” Howard argued, though Jason didn’t really care about what had been said at the time.

“Fine but just know, the contract won’t expire because I’m going to finish the job and I’m going to make sure there are no consequences or threats left behind,” Jason threatened, and Howard’s stare hardened.

“What do you mean?” Though he probably knew, he just wanted confirmation.

“I’m going to kill Gary Barlow and then I’m going to finish the job and get rid of Mark be-” Howard didn’t even hesitate before slamming Jason up against the nearest tree, clutching onto collar of Jason’s jumper.

“You won’t lay a finger on him or I swear to god,” He threatened, his voice incredibly controlled and his grip never faltering.

“Or what? You’ll kill me?” Jason questioned, and when Jason said this, he expected some silence or hesitation before Howard most likely said yes just to scare him, but there was only a breath before Howard responded.

“Yes.” That’s when the silence happened.

“What?” Jason asked, his voice beginning to shake ever so slightly as his heart began to pound.

“If you kill him or even do so much as a lay a hand on him, I swear to god I will track you down and kill you myself, I will show you the same mercy you showed him,” Howard responded, and when Jason searched his eyes for even the smallest of lies, he failed to find any and so he decided to switch tactics.

“And then what? Who will you have left? Rob? I don’t think he’s even interested in doing this for much longer, he’s not committed like you and I,” Jason asked, desperately searching for some common ground.

“And neither am I.” 

“What? Committed?”

“No, I’m not interested in doing this anymore, I’m finishing the job myself and then I’m done,” Howard explained, his grip loosening while Jason felt as though something had dropped inside of him. 

“And what exactly will you do when you leave?” Jason questioned, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

“I’m going to stay here with Mark.” 

“Even after everything I just said?” Jason said, though he knew his argument was weak, but it only made sense, he felt weak, like he was losing everything and couldn’t do a thing to prevent it.

“Yes, so just do me a favour Jay, promise me you’ll take me seriously and stay out of my way?” And when Jason didn’t respond, he let go and stepped away, leaving Jason pressed up against the tree, feeling so empty and unable to understand what was happening.

“You need to talk to somebody Jay, you need to find a way to cope with everything because this clearly wasn’t the way to go,” Howard said before turning for the last time and beginning to walk away, which was when Jason finally broke out of his trance.

“So this is it? You’re just going to leave and spend the rest of your life with somebody you hardly know and have been told is a serious threat to you?” Jason called out as pushed himself off of the tree, but Howard just kept walking.

“Goodbye Jay.” And then he left. He left Jason all alone.


	17. A Disco Date (Sort of)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really like the Hey Boy outfits, ok?

When Robbie arrived at the school on Friday morning, it was chaos. However, this was expected as just the night before he’d learned that there was to be a school disco the following evening. He’d found out about this from an unexpected phone call from Gary somewhere around midnight, which involved him frantically explaining how there’d been a few cancellations and some staff calling in sick or simply coming up with poor excuses to not attend because nobody really wanted to spend their Friday night at a children’s disco. Gary had asked for Robbie’s help with the decorating and then supervising at the actual event, which he’d have to come in earlier for and then stay for after school. Simply put, Robbie was going to be at work for a long time. 

However, Robbie wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity to help Gary out, especially when he only had a couple more days left to protect him and make up his mind about whether or not it would be worth telling him about his feelings, even if their relationship seemed to have come to a standstill ever since the date. So, Robbie had said yes and had been met with much gratitude, which was simply a bonus.

It was quite easy to see just how chaotic the school was going to be just by walking into the reception because Ayda wasn’t there. She was in fact in the kitchen just baking away on her own because the cooks hadn’t arrived yet.

“Rob!” A voice, which Robbie instantly recognised as Gary, called out from across the hall.

Gary was standing at the back of the hall with a ladder behind him and a banner, which was most likely painted only the night before, on the floor. He’d waved Robbie over and so he was quick to navigate his way through the chaos of the other members of staff who’d bothered to put the effort in.

“Everything alright?” Robbie asked once he’d reached the back.

“Well as good as it can be I suppose, but right now I really need your help,” Gary replied, and Robbie nodded.

“What do you need?”

“This is kinda embarrassing but I need to get this banner up and I’ve got a fear of heights, like it’s really bad so could you maybe go up this one while Sharon puts the other side up?” Gary explained, and it was only then that Robbie noticed the other teacher, who Robbie had a vague idea of which class she taught, standing across from them by another ladder, holding one end of the banner in one hand.

“How have you managed to do this kind of thing before?” Robbie questioned, unable to see how Gary could have gotten so far as a teacher and a human being living in a house, which seemed as though it would need frequent repairs, without climbing a ladder.

“I usually get one of the other teachers to do it or if I’m at home, I get my neighbour,” Gary explained, and Robbie could see just how embarrassing it was for Gary to tell him this.

“Well what happens if nobody’s around?”

“I usually just wait for there to be somebody.” 

Robbie didn’t know why it bothered him so much or why he wanted to help Gary with his fear, but he felt as though he had to.

“Well why don’t you give it a go now? Nobody’s really watching,” Robbie suggested, sticking his hands in his trouser pockets, and Gary seemed a little surprised upon hearing this but after looking between Robbie and the ladder, he nodded.

“Alright, but if I fall, it’s your fault,” Gary said before turning around and picking up the other end of the banner.

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you fall, like a knight saving the damsel in distress sort of thing,” Robbie responded jokingly, and Gary took a moment before laughing a little, almost of if he wasn’t sure if Robbie was actually joking or was taking a moment to picture it.

“Right then,” Gary then said before putting one foot on the ladder and then another, Sharon copying his pace from the other side.

Robbie for a moment thought it was going to work out fine due the level of confidence that seemed to radiate from Gary as he did this, but the minute he went to lift another foot, the ladder wobbled, and he froze.

“I can’t do this, you’ll have to do it,” Gary then rushed out quickly before stepping down, forcing Sharon to do the same too, which she didn’t seem too pleased about.

“Here, you do it,” Gary said, holding the banner out to him, but Robbie wasn’t giving up yet.

“That was one attempt, you can’t seriously be giving up?”

“I’m sorry but I feel like it’s going tip over,” Gary replied, and while the ladder wasn’t too high, Robbie understood because fears like this never really made much sense.

“What if I held the ladder while you climb? And if you fall, I’ll catch you,” Robbie offered, but this time he meant it when he said he’d catch him, and Gary obviously saw this too.

“Ok.”

Gary then stepped up onto the ladder again as Robbie grabbed onto the sides beside his legs.

“Ready?” 

“Ready.”

Gary then once again made the attempt to lift up another foot but this time he was successful in getting it onto the next step. He then took a couple more hesitant steps before he stopped and looked down at Robbie, their eyes meeting.

“I’ve got you, I promise,” Robbie said, and he’d never meant a promise more than that one.

Gary then turned back and began to climb further until he eventually reached the top.

“Ok, Sharon and I are now going to hold it up and you need to tell us when it looks straight, ok?” _That is not your area of expertise at all._

“Alright, go ahead.”

The two then lifted it up and Robbie was quite impressed because it seemed to line up nicely on their first attempt.

“That actually looks good, I think you can leave it like that,” Robbie said.

“Ok can you pass Sharon the hammer and nails?” Gary asked, and Robbie did this before watching as Sharon fiddled around with them until finally managing to hammer the nail into the wall.

Sharon then grabbed the hammer and nails and climbed down the ladder once more before handing them to Robbie and disappearing without another word. He then handed the tools to Gary and he copied Sharon, except with a lot less fiddling, and when he was done, he passed them back to Robbie, who placed them on the floor before looking up at Gary once more.

“See? That wasn’t so scary, was it?” Robbie said.

“It was absolutely terrifying but thank you for the help anyway.”

“Ready to come down then?”

“Definitely.”

Robbie then grabbed onto the sides once more and Gary began the climb back down. However, as he went to place his foot down on the next step, he obviously misjudged the distance and it slipped off, causing his whole balance to become thrown off and he fell right off the ladder and, thanks to his unusually fast reflexes, into Robbie’s arms. He was literally holding Gary, this rather muscular and masculine looking man, like a damsel in distress.

There was a moment of silence between the two as they both took in exactly what had just happened and how it had led to the current situation. Neither moved a muscle, feeling like they’d been paralysed as they just looked at each other.

Eventually, Robbie realised that people were probably watching, and he was quick to place Gary back down on the floor. The two then made sure to take an awkward step back from each other as they messed with their arms and hands, trying to find a natural position for them. Gary had succeeded in doing this first and was quick to clear his throat before speaking up.

“Um thank you, that was really nice of you to do.”

“Yeah, um it’s no problem,” Robbie replied as he proceeded to stuff his hands back into his trouser pockets for a fear of doing something with them that would just send the awkwardness into the stratosphere.

“Well I suppose we should probably get to work elsewhere then,” Gary said, and Robbie nodded, probably a bit too much.

The two then continued to help around until it was time for lessons to begin. They then went about their usual day until it reached lunchtime and they were sat once more at Gary’s desk as they ate because Robbie wasn’t a fan of the noise in the dining hall and Gary didn’t want him to sit alone for the break.

“So, are you coming dressed up tonight then?” Gary asked, and Robbie wasn’t entirely sure as to what he meant.

“Dressed up like what?” Robbie questioned, and it seemed to dawn on Gary then that he hadn’t actually told Robbie anything about the actual event aside from the planning.

“Right, sorry, I forgot to say but the theme of the disco tonight is the 70s,” Gary explained, and while Robbie didn’t own anything for that particular century, he figured he’d do his best to find something because he might as well go all in for one of his last nights.

“I think I will dress up a bit,” Robbie responded, and Gary smiled at this.

“That’s good to hear because I was going to do it too, even if some of the teachers here won’t join in,” Gary replied.

“Well I can’t wait to see that,” Robbie said just as Gary’s phone rang out.

“Excuse me a minute,” Gary said before picking up his phone and disappearing out the classroom.

Robbie used this time to think of all the shops he’d seen in the village so far and decide which would be his best bet for a decent outfit. Soon enough though, Gary returned, but he didn’t seem pleased, which wasn’t a good sign considering how much had already gone wrong for the event.

“What’s happened now?” Robbie asked as Gary sat down again.

“The bloody DJ pulled out, said he read his schedule wrong and has another gig, which had been paid for in advance,” Gary replied as he placed his phone back on the desk.

“That’s not great, is it?”

“No, it’s not.”

The look on Gary’s face was one of defeat but Robbie wasn’t going to let that happen because Gary had clearly worked too hard for this just for it to all come crashing down. So, he wracked his brain for a solution until an idea finally presented itself.

“It’s not over yet, I think I might have a solution.”

“You know somebody who can DJ?” Gary questioned, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Strangely enough, I do,” Robbie said as he then pulled out his phone and called their saviour.

*  
The sun had disappeared by the time Robbie had arrived outside the school, half an hour late to the disco and he was regretting not bringing a jacket as he made his way down the path towards the reception’s entrance at the school. He was however feeling quite good after he’d managed to secure the replacement DJ and find himself an outfit for that night. It was quite simple, consisting of some tight black trousers, a brown short sleeved button up shirt, which was patterned with a few drawings of tigers and flowers, and he’d made sure to tuck this into his trousers to really immerse himself into the look. He looked adequate he thought considering this was the best he could manage with only an hour to search the town before having to return to help with the final preparations.

When he eventually made it inside after jumping the line of little kids dressed in their scarily accurate outfits, he found the hall looked pretty good considering how much of a rush job it was. There were quite a few children inside, some were dancing away while others were lined up at the dining hall’s counter, exchanging their small allowance of pound coins for some food or a drink from Ayda, who was managing on her own perfectly well as a few cooks rushed around behind her. Everything seemed to be functioning and Robbie was almost content, except there was something, or someone to be precise, who was missing. Robbie couldn’t see Gary, which was a little alarming considering he’d been stressing enough for the whole school and more.

Robbie had seriously considered jumping into panic mode because of his last conversation Jason, which had only been less than an hour ago. He’d returned to the inn to get change and had not only found Jason back early and laying in bed, he’d discovered that Jason hadn’t gone to work at _all_. In fact, Jason really wasn’t acting like Jason in the slightest. He was acting like Robbie on a bad day. So, like the good friend he was, Robbie asked what was wrong and while at first Jason seemed reluctant to say, he eventually opened up and told Robbie about his fight with Howard the night before and yeah, Robbie completely understood why Jason was now in a pit of depression. Robbie then of course attempted to pick Jason up and tell him how amazing he was at his job and that he didn’t need Howard in his life really considering Jason wouldn’t discuss his true feelings and Howard was also incredibly stubborn and never went back on his word out of pure spite. This uplifting speech had actually only come after Jason had vented to Robbie about how he was going to “live alone forever with like ten cats and then die in a state of absolute misery”. Fortunately though, the speech seemed to work, and Jason’s mood was lifted to a point it seemed almost scary because there was a look in his eye’s that told Robbie that he had an idea, but he didn’t have time to stick around and find out and so had left after getting changed.

Now Robbie was worried that Jason had been so inspired that he’d decided to get up and kill Gary, which also meant that Robbie had assisted in his murder and he wasn’t sure how to deal with that. He was then about to have a complete breakdown until he realised that he could ask somebody because maybe Gary was running late or was attending to something elsewhere at the time.

So, he then made his way over to the back of the hall where the little stage had been set up and was now the current spot for the temporary DJ, who just happened to be Howard.  
Howard was the school’s DJ for the night because it was a side hobby of his. Robbie had found this out by accident a few years back when he’d been on a mission and had to go to a nightclub to find out some information about his current target at the time and then he’d seen Howard, who at the time hadn’t been aware of his presence until that afternoon when Robbie called him up and asked him to substitute. Fortunately it hadn’t been too difficult to convince him because apparently assuming that Mark would be the kind of guy to look great in any decade of clothing and would also enjoy getting dressed up as over the top as possible was the right thing to do because by suggesting that Howard bring Mark along while also getting dressed up, he’d managed to convince him.

Robbie was stood beside the stage when he finally got a look at Howard’s outfit in full and he was certainly blown away. Howard was dressed in red trousers, suspenders, a shirt like Robbie’s except it was completely white and was unbuttoned to expose a low-cut white tank top underneath along with a pair of sunglasses to complete the look, though Robbie thought they’d just be nuisance if anything considering they were indoors and it was dark aside from the flashing lights dotted about the place.

“Evening Howard,” Robbie greeted, raising his voice a little to ensure that he was heard over all the music.

“Evening Rob,” Howard responded, not even turning away from his set up.

“You look really good, didn’t know there was anywhere nearby that had something like that,” Robbie said after trying to wrack his brain considering he’d struggled quite a bit to find his own.

“Yeah, I found this while I was on my rounds today.”

“Right and where’s Mark at?” Robbie asked, looking around as he realised he hadn’t seen the little man anywhere so far.

“I believe he’s hiding under this table,” Howard replied, gesturing to the table he was stood in front of, which was covered by a rather long table cloth.

“Um any reason why?”

“He’d ordered this outfit specially for tonight after being told by Gary about the disco about a month ago but apparently something went wrong and he’s been sent the wrong thing and he hates it and thinks he looks like human trash but didn’t want to _not_ wear it and not come with because he did pay for it and wasn’t going to be completely robbed of his evening, even though I don’t think he looks that bad and would absolutely do it with him all the same,” Howard explained, actually turning to look at Robbie as he did so.

“Fair enough but I need to know, have you seen Gary anywhere?”

“He’s over there,” Howard replied, pointing to the entrance to the hall where Gary was kneeling in front of a child, who was crying over their dropped bag of sweets.

“Oh, thanks.”

“No problem, enjoy it while it lasts,” Howard said.

“Oh fuck off, why are you and Jason just obsessed with ruining my only chance at love?”

“Because it’s beneficial to me in this one instance and Jason is just being Jason.”

“God I hate you both sometimes,” Robbie muttered before turning and making his way back through the crowd of children towards Gary.

When he finally approached him, the child had calmed down and was returning to the crowd of dancing children as Gary stood up once more. 

“Hiya Rob, you alright?” Gary greeted, but Robbie found himself unable to talk because wow, Gary looked amazing.

Gary had come dressed in a similar manner to Robbie as he was wearing a pair of tight brown trousers with a black shirt like Robbie’s, which was decorated in pink and blue flowers and had the top few buttons undone to reveal the top of what appeared to be a white tank top. Basically, Gary looked really sexy.

“You look really great,” Robbie rushed out, unable to stop himself from saying what he was thinking and catching Gary off guard clearly.

“Oh, thank you, you look really nice too,” Gary responded, gesturing to Robbie.

“Um thanks, just kinda threw it together last minute,” Robbie responded, crossing his arms as he did so because he needed to put them somewhere.

“Well I wouldn’t have known that, it looks great considering I got this a week or so ago.”

“Don’t put yourself down, I think you’re the best dressed here,” Robbie said.

“Thanks but I don’t think anyone’s quite as well dressed as Howard, I mean, for a last-minute thing, he really pulled together a great outfit, but then again I suppose he is with Mark, he’s always the best dressed.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Robbie said, causing Gary to raise an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“Well Mark may or may not be hiding under that table because he’s having a fashion crisis, which I haven’t seen but it must be bad if he’s hiding,” Robbie explained, and Gary looked as though for a minute he thought it was a joke, but then he probably remembered that this was most likely very in character for the little man and he shook his head.

“Right, this has gone on for too long, I need to talk to him,” Gary said before not wasting another moment and marching over to the stage, and Robbie was going to follow but he was prevented by somebody tugging on his trouser leg, who Robbie found was a little girl.

“Mr Williams, Jessica threw up in the cloak room,” She said, pointing with her other arm.

“Right, lead the way.” He’d just have to catch up later.

*  
“Mark, come out, you’re being ridiculous,” Gary said, tapping on the table cloth as he stood in front of the stage.

“No, go away, I’m not talking to you anymore,” Mark replied, almost replicating how the children in his class sounded when they didn’t get their way.

“Mark come on, you can’t hide under there all night just because you think your outfit is bad,” Gary responded, folding his arms.

“I can and I will.”

“ _Mark_.”

“No, that doesn’t work anymore Gaz.”

“I mean it Mark, I’ll pull you out if I have to.”

“I dare you to try it.” Gary sighed.

“Mark _please_ , I’m sick of fighting and don’t want to throw everything we’ve been through together just because of one man…who I may have been quick to judge,” Gary said, and then there was silence before the cloth was lifted and Gary for a moment felt as though he was having a stroke because Jesus, Mark’s outfit really was a mess. Not hide under a table mess, but a mess for Mark’s standards.

“Do you really still want to be my friend? Even after I’ve been ignoring you?” Mark questioned, looking slightly doubtful.

“Of course I do Mark, you’re my best friend, you’ve stuck by me through thick and thin and anyway, you’ve done nothing wrong, I was the one smothering you so much because I didn’t trust you enough but after this week, I’ve finally seen how wrong I was to do that because you’re a perfectly capable man and if you want to marry this random stranger because you trust him enough, then who am I to stop you?” Gary replied, and Mark practically leapt into Gary’s arms after hearing this.

“God I’ve missed you, so much has happened, and I’ve been dying to tell you all about it,” Mark said as Gary returned the embrace.

“Well I’ll be happy to hear all about it later.”

“But aren’t you staying with your boyfriend later?” Mark asked, detaching himself and catching Gary completely off guard.

“My boyfriend?”

“That guy over there, the one you’ve been hanging out with, he’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?” Mark explained, pointing over to where Robbie was marching off with one of the children, a mop in his hand, which actually made Gary smile a little before he remembered what they were actually discussing, and he snapped back to Mark.

“Rob and I are just friends,” Gary said, even if he wasn’t entirely sure anymore.

“Oh, it’s just you look at him the way you used to look at Dawn is all.” Mark said a little quieter this time, and that was when a face he hadn’t thought of in a while appeared in his face for a brief moment before he quickly pushed it away.

“Ok well maybe I do like him a bit, but it doesn’t matter, he’s leaving soon and we’ll never see each other again.”

“Does he _know_ you like him?” 

“I mean, I guess so considering we went out last weekend and we may have almost kissed,” Gary said, lowering his voice.

“So he likes you too?” Mark questioned, his eyes lighting up as he clasped his hands together.

“I don’t know, maybe.” Mark’s face dropped.

“You almost kissed and you’re saying “maybe”?” 

“Maybe,” Gary murmured, and Mark shook his head.

“Look, I know you have trouble with getting into relationships Gaz, but I think you’re overthinking this one.”

“So what? I’m just supposed to tell him how I feel and hope he’s willing to drop everything and live here while I hide for the rest of my life?”

“Yes!”

“No.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he’s sweet and awkward and I can’t drag him into this life, I mean, I may have had my suspicions about him and his friends at first, but now I realise I was wrong, he’s just a really good guy.”

“And Howard?” Mark asked, looking at Gary with suspicion.

“ _And_ Howard, they’re both nice guys, in fact, even that librarian seems to be all clear, I mean he’s hardly left the place since he got there.”

“Yeah, Jason was really suspicious, but that’s not the point, you’re being the ridiculous one now.”

“How? I think I’m being reasonable actually.”

“Well of course you do, but you’re not, we’re safe here and Robbie clearly isn’t in any solid position so why not see if he’ll stay? He could work here properly, and it’d be really romantic, I mean, Howard’s basically uprooting his whole life and staying here, so why not Robbie?” And Gary didn’t want to admit it, but Mark was making some sense.

“Ok, if I get the chance, I’ll talk to him tonight or something.”

“Good, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back under this table.” 

There was clearly no stopping this.

*  
There was roughly half an hour left of the disco when Robbie found himself standing outside the hall, desperately in need of some peace and air from the crowded hall, which wasn’t his most comfortable environment. He’d been freezing alone for awhile until he heard the hall door open.

“Thought I’d find you out here,” Robbie heard Gary say as the door shut and he appeared beside him.

“Yeah, sorry, I can’t really handle big crowds for too long, even if the crowd is like a third of my size,” Robbie said as he continued to stare up at the clouded moon.

“It’s alright, I understand.” 

There was then a bit of silence, but not just an ordinary silence. It was a silence filled with meaning and tension, just waiting for somebody to say something important. So, Robbie listened and decided it was time. He had to tell Gary.

“Gaz-”

“Rob-” _Oh._

“Oh, sorry, you go first,” Robbie said, finally looking across at him but Gary shook his head.

“No, please, you go.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, right, so um Gary, there’s something important I’ve been meaning to say since last weekend and you can probably guess what it is, but here goes, I really like you Gary, like in a romantical way and I want to go out with you because you’re really nice and funny and treat me better than anybody I’ve ever met and yeah, you’re also really fit,” Robbie explained, and Gary for a minute seemed startled, like he couldn’t believe it despite the obvious build up.

“Well I guess I’ve been kind of obvious too but I really like you too Rob, you’re probably one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met and you’re a million times more funny than me and I think you’re pretty good looking too, like to a point I was scared you’d notice me staring or something,” Gary said, and Robbie wasn’t entirely sure what to say or do because this had never happened before, nobody had ever like Robbie back that way or said such nice things if they did. It almost didn’t feel real.

“And I know you’re leaving soon, and this is going to sound really selfish but if you want, you can stay if you want? You could stay at the school, stay with me,” Gary then added, his voice so rushed as if he needed to get it all out before he backed out, and Robbie didn’t even hesitate or think over the offer before responding.

“Jesus, yes, I want that more than anything right now,” Robbie responded, feeling himself actual start to well up with tears because this was everything he’d ever wanted, and it was actually going to happen.

“And that’s everything I want, I’m tired of being alone and not trusting anyone but now I’ve found you, I never want to go back,” Gary said, his own eyes filling with tears.

“Then you won’t, I’ll stay, and we’ll be that disgustingly affectionate teacher couple that everyone hates, and we know that but we just do it anyway,” Robbie rushed out, making Gary laugh.

“Yes, definitely.” And then Robbie remembered the last thing he needed to do.

“So I guess all there’s left to do now is ask you officially, so Gaz, will you be my boyfriend?” Robbie asked, his heart racing because he couldn’t fully comprehend that this was happening.

“Oh absolutely,” Gary replied, a warm and happy smile on his face.

They then just stood there, taking it all in and staring at each other with smiles on their faces, feeling like a couple of teenagers. The music from the hall was incredibly loud but they could hardly hear it as they seemed to enter a space of their own. A safe and warm space that they didn’t really want to move from. In fact, it felt exactly like they were back on Gary’s doorstep, just wanting to hold each other. 

So, Robbie went with the moment and he leaned in and unlike last time, he met Gary half way and they were finally sharing what Robbie considered to be the most passionate and magical kiss and moment of his life. They just didn’t want to let go as Robbie wrapped his arms around Gary’s waist and Gary lifted his arms up and wrapped them around his neck, bringing the two even closer.

When they eventually pulled apart, but only due to a need of air, they didn’t let go of each other, Robbie just looked down at Gary, who copied vice versa, and they just smiled at each other before resting their foreheads together, their eyes closing as they enjoyed the moment. They couldn’t hear the music, they couldn’t feel the cold, they only felt each other.

“We should probably go back inside, it’s almost time to send everyone home,” Gary said, though it was obvious he didn’t really want.

“Five more minutes, then we kick the kids out.”

“Deal but y’know, you can come back with me tonight, if you want that is? It’s just I don’t know if I can go home alone after this,” Gary offered, and Robbie’s eyes opened upon hearing this, his eyes meeting Gary’s once more.

“Yeah, I’d love that.”

“I know it probably sounds a little forward but I didn’t necessarily mean we had to do anything, I just thought maybe-” 

“Gaz, it’s fine, we’ll go where the night takes us.”

“Right, yeah, sorry.”

“It’s fine, I mean, I’ve been waiting to see those thighs in action for awhile now,” Robbie said casually, causing Gary’s to go so red that it was incredibly visible in the low lighting.

“Too much?” Robbie asked, and Gary nodded.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just not used to being so upfront.”

“It’s alright, we can find a middle ground somewhere.”

Robbie then decided that it was probably time to go back and so went to lean in once more to steal one last kiss for time being, except he didn’t get so far this time because the sound of footsteps approaching fast caused his head to snap to the side. That was when his heart dropped at the sight of Jason, sprinting towards the two, a cold and steely look on his face.

Robbie leapt away from Gary and was going to jump in front of him but Jason was too fast and he tackled Gary to the ground before reaching behind him and pulling a knife out.

“Jason you stupid twat get off him!” Robbie exclaimed as he came up behind Jason and pulled him away.

“Get off him? I think _you_ were the one who needed to get off him, I mean, just what the hell were you doing?” Jason shot back, clearly not in the mood for any games.

“I like him Jay, I like him a lot and we were clearly wrong about him, he’s a good man and has nothing to hide, ok? So please just bugger off.”

“No, he’s the target because he’s not a good man, he’s just like us, he’s a killer, I know this now,” Jason argued, and Robbie froze for a moment.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not, it’s the truth, he trained at the same place we trained.”

“No he didn’t and I’m sick to death of you deciding that every person here is a killer just for your own convenience.”

“For gods sake, why won’t you and Howard just grow up and accept that not everything is a fairy-tale? You can’t just run off with somebody you hardly know and expect it all to work out perfectly, there’s always a catch and just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not true.” And Robbie was going to argue back but he was prevented by Gary appearing between the two.

“What the bloody hell is going on here? And don’t you even dare think about lying,” Gary asked, staring at Robbie with a kind of serious expression that he’d seen on him before.

“Gaz, you’re probably going to think I’m crazy but this is truth ok? Me and him are assassins, so is Howard, and we were sent here to kill you because we were told you were this serious threat but I don’t believe that, you’re too good and kind to be that, so please don’t freak out, I don’t want to do this anymore,” Robbie explained, gesturing between himself and Jason, and from all the looks he was expecting to get from Gary, he never expected to see an expression of hurt worse than if he’d gone and stabbed him.

“You mean you’ve been lying to me about everything?” And that was the moment Robbie felt his heart begin to shatter.

“No, well yes, kinda, I mean, I’m not a substitute obviously and I’m not exactly the healthiest but I really do like you and I care about you, you’ve got to believe me Gaz,” Robbie said, and the tears that had once been there out of only happiness, began to fall down Gary’s face.

“And why should I? As insane as he is, Jason’s right, I hardly know you and I have no idea if you’re just saying these things to get your perfect opportunity to kill me.”

“Gaz, no, I swear, I’ve never wanted something or someone more than you, so why can’t you believe me like I believe that I was sent here to kill the wrong person?”

“Because you’re believing the truth, you were sent here to kill the wrong person, but it’s too hard to believe that after what’s just happened that you’re not a bad guy,” Gary replied, and that one hurt a little too much.

“So that’s it, after everything you just said, you’re done with me and don’t want to be with me anymore?”

“I don’t want to be away from you because I do like you, or the you I thought I knew, but I can’t, not now, I’m sorry Rob.” And then he turned and he went back inside the school.

“See? I told you Rob, this isn’t some story, this was never going to work.”

“Yeah because you’re always right Jason, so I hope you’re happy, you’ve ruined me and you’ve probably just gone and ruined everything for Howard.”

“This isn’t me trying to be right, this is me doing what we were sent to do because like it or not, Gary is lying, he’s a killer, I remember his face, he was on that photo in the trophy case at the academy with all the top students.”

“God, you’re a really good liar, aren’t you? So good that I’d believe you if you hadn’t been such a cold-hearted arsehole since we got here.”

“That’s your problem Rob, you want Gary to believe you and yet you won’t even believe me, somebody you’ve known far longer.”

“Oh my god just stop Jason!” Robbie exclaimed, and then the hall doors opened once more and Howard appeared.

“What are you two doing out here? Gary’s just come storming in and dragged Mark off somewhere,” Howard questioned, and Robbie shook his head.

“Oh nothing, Jay’s just being an arse and ruining everything, so nothing new,” Robbie replied, and Howard groaned.

“Can you both just pack it on for one night?”

“Us pack it in? You’ve been fucking about just as much as he has!” Jason exclaimed.

“Oh fuck off with that Jay, you-”

“You know what? I’m done, I’m going back to the inn and I’m going to bed because I’m sick of this, I’m sick of you both, I’m just done, goodnight,” Robbie then said, interrupting Howard before pushing past him on his way into the school.

And he really was done, he’d had everything and lost everything in a matter of minutes and if that wasn’t enough to send somebody over the edge, he didn’t know what would. So he went back to the room and he just laid in bed, his mind blank and his heart broken. What was the point anymore?


	18. The Plan

It was Sunday morning when Robbie was rudely awoken from his depression nap, which had been going on since Friday night, by Jason wrenching the curtains open. Robbie hadn’t seen Jason since Friday so where he’d been was a mystery but he’d assumed that it wasn’t to kill Gary considering if he had done, they’d have been shipped off home again. 

“What the fuck?” Robbie asked groggily as he slowly lifted his head from his pillow to look at Jason, who was currently packing his things into his suitcase, which had been placed on the bed.

“We’re leaving Rob,” Jason explained as if they hadn’t had their enormous fight only a couple of days ago.

“I’m assuming they called to ask how it went?” Robbie questioned, and Jason nodded as he continued to stuff objects and pieces of clothing into the suitcase, which wasn’t like Jason as he usually folded everything neatly and carefully placed them all in, but obviously he was desperate to leave.

“They did, I told them we didn’t get him and they said to come back and explain it, which I intend to do.”

“I mean, I think we did get him in a way but I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore, never gonna see him again anyway,” Robbie responded as he sat up and rubbed his face.

“No you won’t, in fact, you won’t be seeing me either Rob,” Jason then said as he slammed his suitcase shut.

“Not that I really care anymore but why’s that?”

“Because I’ve decided to transfer away from here.”

“Um Jason, you are aware that you can’t just _decide_ to transfer? You have to be selected,” Robbie said as Jason zipped up his bag and put it on the ground rather aggressively.

“I know, I was offered to do this a few months ago but I said no since Howard was here, but now there’s nothing worth staying for, so I’m going to take up the offer since they said they’d keep it open.”

“Well good for you I suppose, though I think it’s a little unfair you get to just disappear, leaving all your problems and mess behind for the rest of us,” Robbie said, and Jason put on a smile laced with venom as he folded his arms.

“Oh right, yes, the mess _I_ made, the mess that involved me falling for the target and believing I could just prevent his death for a couple of weeks and so would just make everyone give up and go home, leaving me to spend the rest of my life lying to him, yes, I do apologise for what I’ve done, it was a ridiculous plan, wasn’t it?” Jason responded, and even after everything that had happened, it still felt like a kick to the chest.

“God, you’re such a bitch Jason, can you just leave already?” 

“I can’t, we all have to leave together, so if you never want to see me again, get your arse in gear,” Jason explained before then picking up his bag and leaving.

Robbie then laid there for another ten minutes before deciding to get up and pack up his things, which didn’t take very long of course. Once he’d packed, he got ready and dressed before zipping up his bag and making his way to the door, ready to leave the village forever.

However, when Robbie opened the door, he nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of Gary, who had had his fist raised as if he’d been meaning to knock on the door, but hadn’t quite gotten that far, before dropping it.

“Um, hi,” Gary greeted with an awkward smile, and Robbie actually had to take a moment to confirm he wasn’t dreaming.

“Hi,” Robbie responded, a little more bitter than he’d intended to be considering he didn’t think Gary had actually done anything wrong, he was just pissed at Jason.

“I know you probably don’t want to see me after how I reacted the other night, but I needed to talk to you before you left,” Gary said, and Robbie shook his head.

“You reacted perfectly normally, in fact, maybe a little too normally considering I’d just admitted that us three were all here to just kill you and go, so you don’t have to explain anything.”

“No, I really do, I haven’t been entirely honest with you either Rob.” _Oh._

“Well I guess you’d better come in then,” Robbie then said before standing aside to let Gary in and then closing the door behind him.

The two had then sat down on the edge of Robbie’s bed and neither said a word for a while. Clearly whatever Gary had to say was incredibly important.

“Ok, so what I’m about to say I’ve never told anybody aside from Dawn, so I’d appreciate it if everything works out somehow, you don’t tell anybody, no matter how much you trust them,” Gary said, and Robbie only nodded, unsure of what else to say.

“Right, well I realised quickly the other night that I’d been a bit of a hypocrite when I said I couldn’t trust you because of the fact you’d been lying to me because I’ve been lying to you as well,” Gary began, and Robbie almost wanted him to just come out and say what he’d been lying about but he understood this was obviously a big deal and so needed a bit of build-up.

“So you were sent here to kill me because I’m a major threat, which you said you didn’t believe, and I see now that you don’t, but the thing is Rob, I am, you’ve been sent here to kill me because I’ve done things I can’t ever forget and they won’t let me forget.”

“They being?”

“The people you work for Rob, I used to work for them too not long before I came out here,” Gary explained, and then he was silent, like he was waiting for Robbie to react, which he did, but only after about five minutes of replaying that sentence in his mind before it finally sunk in.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, I know it’s probably a lot to take in.”

“Yeah but I suppose it kind of makes us even now, I mean, you had no idea who I was until I told you,” Robbie responded, and Gary kind of smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything, which led to Robbie becoming a little suspicious.

“You didn’t know who I was, right?” Robbie questioned, and Gary sighed, hanging his head for a moment before looking up at Robbie again.

“Well I had my suspicions, I mean, you did just show up to a village in the middle of nowhere and all took up temporary jobs, but the more we talked and the more I heard, the less suspicious I became, so my shock and pain the other night was real, but I was more upset with myself I think, I didn’t want to be right no matter how strongly I thought you were against me at the beginning,” Gary replied, and Robbie was taken aback for a moment, but then he realised they really were quite suspicious.

“Right, yeah, but I still don’t understand how that makes you a major threat, I mean, surely they aren’t after you because you quit?” Robbie questioned, and Gary shook his head.

“No, they’re after me because I took something very important to them and I disappeared with it.”

“I understand this is kind of a big deal for you to tell me, but could you maybe elaborate a little more? It’s just Jason is waiting for me and I don’t really wanna make him more upset than he already is, even if he is being an arse,” Robbie asked, and Gary seemed slightly shocked, almost like he wasn’t aware he’d been taking so long to explain or that he was speaking so secretly when he was supposed to be telling him the whole truth.

“Sorry, well, basically a few years before I left, they gave me a very important job, said I couldn’t tell a soul about it, which I didn’t at first, and basically they sent me on multiple hits all over the world and told me to search each one’s house or other possible hiding spots for a file that contained something top secret, but they never told me what was inside it,” Gary explained, and Robbie had never heard of such a mission, but then again, he’d never been asked or told to do one.

“So I did this for a year or so with no success until one day I was so frustrated with all the secrecy that I ended up telling Mark everything and that’s when things got messier, Mark told me that he’d heard about a file that was going around between a supposedly secret group, one that contained information on the organisation, though he wasn’t sure what information exactly it entailed.” Robbie was a little surprised to hear this at first because for one, the organisation seemed almost impenetrable, there was no leaks or loose ends, or so he’d thought, and then secondly, was Gary implying that Mark Owen, the tiny thot, was also an assassin? 

“Um quick question, are you telling me that Mark was an assassin too?” Robbie asked, and Gary nodded.

“He was a brilliant assassin, fast and really good with a knife,” Gary replied, and it took Robbie a moment to take that in, but once he began to imagine it, it wasn’t too far fetched considering Gary didn’t look a killer either.

“But yes, after I learned this, I couldn’t help but do my own digging into this rumour and I heard all sorts of things, some said it was just financial and technical stuff, others claimed it had the organisations darkest secrets and missions, things they wanted to keep buried, but even then, I kept going with the jobs, I didn’t have enough to say it was terrible things and I certainly didn’t want to risk angering the wrong people, so I killed more and I searched more, the jobs becoming more and more complicated and brutal the longer I did it,” Gary continued, and Robbie knew that feeling, the feeling that the more you did it, the worse it got when really, it should’ve been the other way round.

“However, despite this feeling and the rumours, I just couldn’t stop, I wasn’t sure whether this was a sense of duty or a primal need to kill as many as I could, it was terrifying but again, I couldn’t stop it, they gave me a target and I killed them, they told me to question somebody and I hurt them so much that I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to hear an answer, I did so many terrible things, things I don’t even know if they were right at all, I just followed them blindly,” Gary said, staring down at his hands, torment in his eyes, and Robbie felt so crushed, just how deep did Gary’s mental issues? How much blood had he spilled? Had he truly done worse than Robbie or the others? 

Robbie didn’t spend much time dwelling on it before he reached across and took Gary’s hands into his own, shifting his body so he could hold them properly. He knew what it was like to look at yourself and only see a monster. He also knew when you just needed somebody to be there to listen or to just hold you. The act seemed to have some kind of positive effect as Gary looked up at him as he did so, the horror in his eyes slowly fading away until there was calm again.

“You don’t have to finish right now if you don’t want to,” Robbie said, keeping his voice low, but Gary shook his head.

“No, I will, just haven’t talked about it with anybody aside from Mark,” Gary replied before taking a deep breath and continuing.

“So as I said, I kept going until one day I found it, I found the file in a safe under the floor in some wealthy man’s basement, at first I’d thought it was too much trouble and protection for a file but that night, I found that it wasn’t nearly enough.”

“I told them I’d found it and only a few hours before they came to collect, I couldn’t resist the urge anymore and I opened it, what was inside I won’t repeat but there were things I thought could exist within my head or my worst nightmares, there were so many horrific things that they’d had done and half of the victims weren’t even involved, they were just the relatives or close friends, people who had nothing to do with the initial target but weren’t worth the risk of keeping alive.” And simply by the look in Gary’s eyes as he said this, Robbie could already imagine just what kind of things had happened.

“So obviously after I read this, I couldn’t handle the idea that these were about to be buried all over again, most likely never to be seen or heard of, so I did what I had to, I packed up what I could and I ran, I ran all the way out here to Mark’s house since he hadn’t long since moved away and I told him everything and showed him the file, and that’s when we decided to hide it away until it was safe to make our move and I moved out here since nobody had found Mark yet, so there you have it, I’m this major threat because I was one of their best and I have all of their worst tucked away in a singular file,” Gary finished, and Robbie couldn’t believe that this whole time, Gary was the most dangerous person in the village.

“And I know this won’t change anything, you’re still going and I’ll probably have to leave as well, though I don’t know where to, but I just needed you to know,” Gary then said, and Robbie was silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, I’m not going and neither are you, we’re both going to stay here,” Robbie stated, and Gary raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t understand, they’ll find us and kill us eventually if we do that,” Gary responded.

“Not if we fight back, show them we’re not going down so easily and use the file, they’ll have to give up eventually,” Robbie explained, but Gary didn’t seem anymore convinced.

“There’s only two of us Rob, even if we held of a few, they’d just more than the last and we’d be outnumbered.”

“Actually, there’s five of us, you, me, How, Mark and Jason, and trust me, you and Mark might be top of the ranks, but my friends and I are just as good,” Robbie said, counting in head first to make sure he had it right.

“While I’m sure you are, I don’t know if Mark can do this kind of thing anymore, it really messed him up the first time, and anyway, that means telling Howard about his past, which I’m sure he won’t necessarily want to.”

“Look, it’s just one more time and it means he won’t have to move and uproot his new life here, also trust me, Howard will understand, he’s quite reasonable when he wants to be,” Robbie explained, and after a bit of thinking, Gary nodded.

“Ok but if this looks like it’s going to go south at any point, we leave, ok?”

“Ok, now all I have to do is convince Jason to go against his whole life as a killer and give it up,” Robbie said, though he said it far more confident than he really felt.

*  
It had taken Robbie a few attempts, but after half an hour, he’d finally managed to get Jason and Howard to sit together in the same room as each other. He and Gary had decided to just plan this all out with the others once they knew who was in and who was out. So, they’d gone to Mark’s house and sat at the dining room table as they waited for Jason and Howard to get over their pride and actually meet them and sit together.

“Ok lads, we’ve called you here today because we have some important things to discuss and I know this is very awkward considering we were supposed to kill Gary, and Howard and Jason hate each other, I mean, I’ve still not forgiven Jason entirely either because he’s pulled some stupid bullshit, but Jay, as much as it pains me to say this, you were right, Gary was actually an assassin like us,” Robbie said once everybody had gotten comfortable, and there were mixed reactions, Jason wore a look of victory, Howard looked blank as usual because he hardly ever showed emotion, and then Mark looked a little surprised that Robbie knew about this.

“I bloody knew it!” Jason exclaimed, and Robbie and Howard groaned.

“Yeah alright, keep your trousers on, don’t need to say I told you so,” Robbie muttered.

“I think I do, so I told you so.”

“Ok whatever but you weren’t right about Mark now were you?” Howard said, and that’s when a silence fell over the table as Mark shifted in his seat, Gary looked anywhere but in his direction and Jason raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Howard asked, and Robbie went to speak but Mark spoke first.

“Um I may have left out a few details when I told you about my past…” Mark said, and Jason looked as if he’d won the lottery.

“I was right? _Again_?” He questioned, and Mark nodded.

“Brilliant, you owe me a massive apology for what you said to me the other night then,” Jason said, folding his arms as he lent back into his chair, his gaze fixed on Howard, who had been silent until then.

“Maybe you were right and I’m sorry for doubting you, but I’m still pissed with you about the other things I had a go at you for,” Howard responded, and Robbie was a little shocked that Howard didn’t seem to care that he’d just found out that Mark, his fiancé, was an assassin.

“Um you seem to be taking this whole thing really well How? Did you know this already or something?” Robbie asked, and Howard shrugged.

“I didn’t know he was an assassin but I dunno, I just don’t feel all that betrayed or changed, like I still love him and if anything, he’s just gotten twice as sexy,” Howard explained, and Robbie should’ve known better than to question Howard considering how odd his moods and thoughts were.

“You really don’t care?” Mark questioned, looking up at Howard.

“Not really, I mean, I was a little surprised at first but it’s not like I hadn’t been lying to you as well,” Howard replied, and while Mark seemed overjoyed to hear this, a thought came to Robbie’s mind.

“Wait, so does this mean that Gary told you everything the other night and you didn’t care either Mark?”

“Well like How, I was a little upset but mainly because I thought I’d left that life behind entirely but then I realised I didn’t care, I knew that not all assassins were terrible and that just because you were here to kill Gaz, doesn’t mean I was in any danger and that Howard had been faking his feelings for me, so I talked to Howard when I go home and I almost told him my own secret, but I never got that far,” Mark explained, and Robbie couldn’t believe this was working out better than expected considering he thought there’d be a lot more yelling and fighting over everything.

“Well then, if everybody’s ok with this all, I think it’s safe to move onto the real reason for this meeting, which is to ask you all to help Gaz and I fight off whoever and whatever the organisation sends to kill him next, so after saying that, who’s in?” Robbie asked, and he watched as Mark and Howard looked at each other and as Jason looked as if were mentally thinking “why in the hell would I do that?”.

“I’m in, I want to help Gaz, he is my best friend after all,” Mark responded, and Howard nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I’ll help too, it’ll keep those bastards off my back,” Howard said, and that’s when Jason spoke up.

“You want my help but you’ve not even told us why Gary was a target in the first place, being an assassin doesn’t make you a target, so what did you do to make the big bosses so upset?” Jason questioned, and that’s when Gary explained the whole story as quickly as he could to everyone.

“…and that’s when we decided to hide it and wait for the right moment to use it,” Gary concluded, and Jason seemed rather fascinated by the whole thing.

“So you’ve really just been hiding out here for a number of years with what is essentially a death warrant for the organisation?” 

“Basically.”

“Wow, that’s quite the achievement, no wonder you were up there with the best.”

“Yes but I suppose all good things come to an end, don’t they? So all that’s left to ask is, will you help us then Jason?”

“If I can look at the file then I’ll help, I want to know how deep this goes,” Jason said, and while Gary seemed a little hesitant at first, he eventually agreed.

This was then followed by Gary leaving Mark’s house and disappearing for almost an hour before he finally returned with a thick file filled to the brim with papers. He then placed it down in front of Jason before returning to his seat.

Jason didn’t waste a second before opening it up and flicking through the papers, Howard and Robbie leaning over to have a look as he did so, and just from a few sentences and glances, Robbie could see just why Gary didn’t want to repeat it. There were things that were enough to haunt any person for life.

“Ok, I’ll definitely help you but we’ll need a plan and a bloody good one at that,” Jason then said after he’d finished reading and closed the file, and after everybody was silent, he sighed.

“Right, I suppose it’s up to me again to get us out of a bad situation, so I’m going to need a few things, a map of the village, some pens and a shit load of ammunition.”

This plan was already looking to be a good one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my internet is back but I'm a little busy today but I managed to get this one up, next one will be up on Monday and then epilogue shall follow shortly after! Thank you for reading!


	19. Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that there will be an epilogue of course but that will be either tomorrow or shortly after. However for now, enjoy the finale and thank you for reading as always!

It was quiet on Tuesday morning, far too quiet for Jason’s liking. Of course there was a reason for the odd silence and it wasn’t just because it was 6am, no, it was because the five of them had gone to the town hall after it had been emptied in the evening and made an announcement through the town’s little communications room, which had been used for emergency announcements but was now collecting dust. They explained that this was a drill and that the military was coming to do a training exercise in the town and so all citizens had to leave their possessions behind aside from the essentials and were to evacuate and were not to return for two days. 

The idea for the announcement came from Gary as they’d all sat pouring over the village map for hours until he realised that even if their strategy to call up the organisation and have them meet them for a standoff at the village worked, there was still a village of people whose lives were in danger and so, Gary decided that they needed to get the people out of the village as fast as possible.

The main part of the plan was much easier considering you had five top assassins in one room with a map of a very small village, two of whom had lived there for many years and so knew every spot and what would work best and where they’d be most vulnerable. The real issue had been weapons and ammunition. However, Mark and Gary had apparently kept their own private stash somewhere safe in case they were ever found and needed more firepower. So, this solved the big problem and all they had to do was execute the plan and hope for the best.

“Remind me again why we’re keeping the fight here instead of keeping the people here and going somewhere else?” Robbie asked, and Jason sighed because he’d been asked too many ridiculous questions that morning considering they’d spent the whole of the day before planning.

“Because we don’t have time Rob, we’d just end up using too much time deciding where to go and where was far enough away from the people when we could’ve been using it to plan,” Jason explained, and Robbie nodded to the exact same explanation he’d heard three times that morning.

“And who rang the Organisation again?” 

This part had also ran smoothly, or perhaps too smoothly considering they were supposed to be holding a bit of leverage and confidence over them with the file in their possession. However, when they called them and explained that they were going to leak the file and that the only way to stop them was to meet them in the village and take it, they were met with only confidence and a solid yes before they hung up. 

Now, the reason for setting up this fight instead of just leaking the files and running was for a few reasons. One reason was that if they did run, they may get away for some time but eventually, they’d be caught and killed, whereas if they stayed together and planned out an attack, they’d stand a better chance than if they were alone or with only one other. Also, they figured that if they fought them off, they’d see that they were unstoppable together or just in general and so would leave them alone, especially since with the file being leaked, many people would also be turning against the Organisation and so the five wouldn’t be alone if they felt like trying again.

“I did and they’ll most likely be here soon.”

“Right and just one more thing, but aside from those two pistols in your holsters, what else are you planning on using?” Robbie questioned as the five had been sat at the dining table in Gary’s house, dressed in their gear and their weapons strapped to them and laid out on the table.

“Why do you ask?” 

“Because we’re probably going to be going up against quite a lot of people, so don’t you want more options instead of just carrying a shit load of ammo for two guns?” 

“Well if you must know, I’ll be using these as well,” Jason replied before reaching into his backpack, which he’d brought from the hotel, and retrieved his knife case, which he unfolded to reveal roughly a dozen knives, all different shapes and sizes.

“Jesus Jay,” Robbie said, clearly shocked by the kit along with everyone else as they all looked between the rather extensive set, which probably looked like a bit of an overkill considering he’d originally brought them for the one job.

“What? I came prepared,” Jason responded with a shrug.

“For what? Skinnin’ an elephant?” Howard questioned, and Jason rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be daft,” Jason said before reaching into his bag again and pulling out what he assumed was a machete, though he’d never been too sure, even the guy he’d bought it off didn’t seem too sure.

“This would be better for that, wouldn’t it?” Jason asked, and everyone seemed to lean back ever so slightly upon seeing it.

“Right well let’s put that away, yeah?” Robbie said as he lowered Jason’s arm.

“I was just saying,” Jason muttered before he put it back in the bag.

“Can I touch them?” Mark then asked rather suddenly, and Jason was quick to sit back up just as Mark was half lent over the table, his eyes filled with an eagerness that would’ve been a little concerning if they weren’t all killers.

“No.”

“Why not?” Mark questioned, his voice imitating that of sulking child once more.

“Because they’re mine and why do you want to touch them anyway?” 

“Because I like them, I mean, I used to use them a lot when I was working so I appreciate nice looking and functional knives,” Mark explained, and while Jason completely understood because after all, knives were his primary weapon of choice most times and he loved a nice and delicate looking knife, he also didn’t like the idea of Mark’s little grabby hands touching his stuff.

“The answer is still no.”

“Aww come on Jason, we’re kinda of friends now, aren’t we? You can trust me.”

“Not really but fine, you can touch _one_ but you can’t hold it,” Jason responded, and that seemed to be just fine for Mark as he instantly reached across the table and ran a finger down one of his more expensive and extravagant knives that he only used for special targets.

“Ok then, so if we’re all ready now, should we go over the plan once more and get to our stations?” Gary then asked, turning everyone’s attention away from Mark.

“Yes, please,” Jason responded, deciding that he’d spent enough time with the four men for the day.

“Right, well first off, both Mark's and my own house will be off limits because they’ll most likely come looking here and we can’t risk anybody getting outnumbered, secondly, all ammo and extra weapons are stashed in the library and my classroom and while they’re not exactly standout locations, be careful when entering and remember to check your corners,” Gary explained before turning to Mark.

“I’ll be in my shop since it’s in the town centre and I’ll be able to see which way they’ll be coming in from, which I’ll pass onto you guys through the walkie talkies,” Mark said, and Jason was a little surprised that he’d remembered considering how distracted he seemed to be most the time.

“I’ll be in the town centre as well,” Howard stated.

“Gaz and I will be stationed at the inn in case they come from the front, so we can take a few out before they hit the centre,” Robbie said before looking back at Jason.

“And I’ll be up on the town hall roof providing back up and cover with the sniper until I either run out of ammo or die,” Jason explained, and then they all took one last look at each other before grabbing their current chosen weapons and leaving.

It didn’t take long for them all to reach their stations and once Jason was up on the rooftop, his gun already stashed there with the few extra ammo piles that he could scrounge up from Mark and Gary’s supplies mixed with his own loose pieces in his bag, he grabbed his walkie talkie.

“Ok, I’m in position, does anybody copy?” Jason questioned, and there was the sound of static for a moment before a response.

“You sound exactly like some guy in an action film,” Robbie said, and Jason mentally sighed.

“That’s nice but are you in position?”

“No, we’re furiously making out behind the inn,” Robbie responded, and this time, Jason let out a groan of frustration.

“Seriously Rob.”

“I just want to say as well, it was all Gary’s idea, couldn’t keep his hands to himse-ow!” Jason smiled.

“Yeah, we’re bloody in position,” Robbie muttered, and Jason was thankful that Robbie had a serious partner like Gary with him.

“Good, now what about Mark and How, are you two there?” Jason asked.

“We’re in position, don’t worry,” Howard responded, and while Jason didn’t really need to know if Howard was there considering he was directly below him, sitting behind the rather large fountain in the centre, he wanted to hear his voice one last time in case this either didn’t end well and one of them didn’t make it out or it did work out and Howard stayed with Mark and never spoke to Jason ever again.

“Good to hear and I know I asked earlier, but are you sure you’re safe enough down there?”

“I’m _fine_ Jay, I’ve got Mark and you watching my back,” Howard said, and before he could say anything else, Gary spoke up.

“There’s three cars pulling up outside the inn…yeah, there’s a lot of them getting out, so I suppose it’s time, good luck lads,” Gary said before there was static once more.

This was it, the final battle and Jason didn’t know whether they were all going to make it out alive.

*  
Robbie and Gary were sitting on the floor side by side, hiding behind the dining room table, which they’d tipped over, in the dining room of the inn as they waited for the assassins who had pulled up outside to enter. It was quiet and the atmosphere was heavy as they sat with their guns in their hands. Neither knew what was going to happen or whether or not they’d both make it out, but they knew that this was the right thing to do.

“If we die today, I just want you to know, I’ve never met somebody like you and if I could go back two weeks, I wouldn’t change a thing,” Gary said, breaking the silence which had descend over them the minute Gary had informed everyone what was going on.

“That’s really nice of you to say and I’m grateful but I need _you_ to know that I won’t be dying unless you murder me with your thighs,” Robbie replied, and it seemed to work in breaking the heaviness in the room because Gary smiled before slightly nudging him with his elbow, which in turn caused Robbie to smile.

“Thanks Rob,” Gary said before leaning his head back and resting it against the table.

Robbie watched him for a moment, not saying a word as Gary closed his eyes, the smile still faintly resting on his lips. He shouldn’t have looked so beautiful considering they were waiting for a group of assassins to barge in and start shooting at them, but he did. It was also as he watched that it really hit him that this could be their last meaningful moment together. So in light of this, he simply grabbed Gary’s hand and gripped it tight, finding comfort as Gary gripped his own back with just as much strength.

There was then a large bang against the door as the people outside tried to open the locked door. The sound kicked the two into action as Gary opened his eyes and looked at Robbie, a mixture of fear and love in his eyes.

“I know this might be a bit early to really say but I love you Gary Barlow and I always will,” Robbie said, a little more rushed than he’d have liked, but Gary smiled all the same.

“It’s ok, I love you too Robbie Williams,” Gary responded, and then just like instinct, the two leant forward and shared one last meaningful and passionate kiss as the noise increased outside and against the door.

They then parted and let go of each other just as the door burst open, kicking them into gear as Robbie immediately reached for the smoke grenade he’d brought with him before pulling the pin and launching it over the table. He heard it hit the ground and soon enough the small entrance hall and dining room were filled with smoke.

It was then that the two stood up and began to fire away, hoping that there was just as many as they’d expected and so they’d at least hit _somebody_ , and due to the sounds of people crying out and even a few thuds, they seemed to do so.

They fired until they were out of ammo and then they ducked back down just in time as bullets came wildly hurtling towards them. They were quick to reload and they waited for the firing to die down a little before kneeling and firing over the top of the table.

As they did this the smoke began to clear out and there was a draft so somebody had obviously opened the front door. Fortunately though, as the two ducked down again, Robbie saw that there was only a couple of men left and they were hiding behind the arch that led into the dining room.

“There’s only two left, if we time this right we can save the ammo and use the knives Mark gave us,” Robbie said, and Gary nodded before placing his gun aside and reaching into his trouser pocket to retrieve the knife, Robbie doing the same.

They then sat with their knives in their hands and their backs to the table, listening for any sound of movement until the time came and they turned around, flinging their knives at the men. The knives hit the men directly in the gut and they stumbled back before falling over. That was when the two grabbed their guns again and leapt over the table, rushing out of the room and building as they did so, but not before they retrieved the knives.

They’d only just made it out when the sound of Howard’s voice was heard over their walkie talkies.

“We’ve got company in the centre guys, if you’re finished soon we could really use the help.”

“We’re on our way, just got rid of the first lot,” Robbie explained as the two raced down the road towards the town centre where there was a lot of gunfire heard.

The first part was done, now for the next.

*  
“Alright, just hurry up, Jason’s almost out of ammo so we’re going to lose our cover for a minute until he gets down,” Howard explained before dropping the walkie talkie and ducking again as the gunfire came in again.

“Are they alright?” Mark asked as he reloaded his pistol.

Howard had been firing away from behind the fountain for a bit before Mark had come sliding across the floor and joined him. They seemed to be a good team as well because while Howard preferred hand to hand, he was still alright with a firearm, while Mark appeared to be incredibly good with a pistol and so they’d managed to take out quite a few with Jason’s help. However, there was still many more coming from both the front and the sides.

“Yeah, they’re on their way now.”

“Good, we’re gonna need their help if Jason can’t give us the cover anymore,” Mark replied just as the sound of Jason’s rifle stopped.

“I’m completely out, you’re on your own until I get down,” Howard barely heard Jason say over the rush of bullets that came over their heads. _Great_.

They waited until the firing stopped before turning around on their knees and firing at the group as they scrambled to get behind cover, managing to take a couple down before they did so.

“I feel like if we make it out alive today, I need to do something in like celebration, something brilliant,” Howard said as they continued to fire at a few more who raised their heads before ducking down again to reload.

“You can do me if you want, I think I’m pretty brilliant,” Mark responded rather casually as he too reloaded.

“Sounds like a plan,” Howard said just as they heard gunfire, except it didn’t come in their direction.

The two looked up just as Jason appeared beside them, his own gun in hand, to see Robbie and Gary charging down the path, firing away at the remaining members of the group, dodging their own fire as they weaved in and out of every piece of cover they could find. 

“It’s about time you showed up!” Howard called out just before the two finished off the remainder of the group.

“Sorry, we were trying to not die,” Robbie said as they all regrouped behind the fountain.

“We’re all trying to do that Rob, you’re not special,” Jason responded as he stood up along with Howard and Mark.

“So, looks like we got rid of the first lot, the second batch seemed to be arriving just as we got here,” Gary explained, and they all nodded in unison.

“How much more?” Jason asked.

“About twice as many and that’s just what we saw before we got here.”

“Well Gaz and I are completely out, so we’re gonna head over to the school and restock,” Robbie then said, and Howard realised he and Mark would need to do the same soon but they couldn’t just leave the town centre alone.

“Right well you two go now and come back quick because Mark and I need to do the same,” Howard said.

“Um I actually have a couple of extra guns and ammo in my shop’s basement, I can run in and get them now,” Mark replied, and everyone looked as though they wanted to ask about it, but there wasn’t enough time and so Robbie and Gary simply nodded before taking off.

“Right, well I don’t think it’s wise to rely on a small stash for three people and twice the enemies so how about Mark and I stay here since we’re carrying knives as well, so if we run out we won’t be completely defenceless unlike you would be, and you run to the library and fill a couple bags and bring them back, yeah?” Jason suggested, and while Howard wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with Jason, he had to admit that he always had a plan and he never let anything interfere when it really came down to it.

“Alright but be careful, I’ll see you soon,” Howard said before dashing off down the road.

He said that but he had a terrible feeling deep inside that maybe he wouldn’t.

*

“Ok Mark, I can see the first line coming now but there’s a couple of snipers up the roofs so they’re our main priority, ok?” Jason said once they’d acquired the extra arms and returned to the fountain because at the moment, it was the only place they could get a good shot because going inside or going on a rooftop simply cornered them.

“Ok but I if we focus on them, the ground team will get closer if we don’t deal with them quick enough, so maybe we should take some of them out first and _then_ focus on the snipers,” Mark replied, and Jason shook his head.

“No, if we don’t deal with them first then we’ll be stuck waiting for an opportunity to take out some of the ground team, the snipers are giving them cover and have a better advantage in taking us out, so we take them out first, got it?”

“Fine.”

However, despite this response, once Jason gave a signal to attack the snipers, Mark immediately revealed a grenade from his pocket, pulled the pin and launched it as far as his tiny arms could manage at the ground team, the explosion coming almost instantaneously and making Jason’s ears ring.

“What the fuck Mark?” Jason exclaimed, though he wasn’t aware he was talking so loudly.

“What? I came prepared like you did,” Mark replied before he turned around, aimed and fired at one of the snipers, Jason copying once he’d gathered his bearings.

Fortunately even with the ringing in his ears and the trails of smoke in the air from the blast, Jason was still a good shot and the sniper was out. He saw that Mark took his out just moments after him and he figured that perhaps he wasn’t the worst person to be stuck working with. He really was a lot smarter than he let on.

However, even if Mark’s plan had taken out a number of the team, there was still many more coming in and it didn’t look good for them at all.

“Howard mate, where’re you at?” Jason murmured to himself before he turned once more and fired.

*

Howard was only a few minutes away from Mark and Jason when he realised that it was extraordinarily quiet considering how many were supposedly heading for the centre.

“Everything alright over there, Mark?” Howard asked once he’d retrieved his walkie talkie from his pocket.

“Yeah, really good actually, a lot of them have been ditching so there’s only a few left, but Jason isn’t happy about it,” Mark explained as the sound of gunfire was once again heard.

“What’s up Jay?”

“I don’t understand why they’re leaving, they could’ve outnumbered and killed us if they all stayed, but a large group left not long ago, which probably means either new orders or they know something we don’t,” Jason explained, and while he was probably right, Howard wanted to remain a little optimistic.

“Maybe they’re backing off?”

“I doubt it, this file is too important.”

“Well I’m almost there so we can go find Rob and Gary when we’re done,” Howard said.

“Yeah, I’m a little concerned for them, they should’ve been back or at least said something by now.”

There was then silence and Howard continued to make his way back to them as fast as he could manage with the two duffel bags on his back. 

It was then only a few minutes later that Jason and Mark came into Howard’s sight. The two were standing behind the fountain and seemed to be talking quite casually despite all the dead bodies surrounding them. However, it was a pleasant sight none the less.

Howard had then gone to greet them but the sight of an unknown figure appearing in the corner of his vision prevented him from doing so. They had clearly been hiding in the alleyway between the two shops behind the fountain and were approaching Mark and Jason, a pistol in hand and aiming directly for Mark’s head. He was clearly at a distance that Mark and Jason couldn’t see and so it was up to Howard to warn him.

“Get down, Mark!” Howard called out as he rushed over to the figure, causing the two to look at Howard before seeing the figure, who was now quite alert, and what happened next played out far quicker than how Howard imagined it would do so. 

Howard had reached the man and attempted to knock his arm down just as the trigger was pulled, seemingly saving Mark’s life, and it did. However, what he hadn’t noticed was that in this rush, Jason had leapt in front of Mark and the bullet had hit and entered his torso. 

So when Howard looked up and saw this, his eyes went wide and he froze. His eyes met with Jason’s, who shared the same fear in them as his own did. Jason was simply stood still, his hands clutching his wound, which was most likely bleeding and seeping in his top, but it wasn’t clear.

It was only when Howard finally took the stranger out that the world seemed to continue moving as Jason began to stumble back a little, Mark catching him and holding him up as best he could. 

Howard had rushed over to Jason just as he took a shaky step forward before collapsing against Howard’s chest. He did his best to support Jason as he brought him down to the floor, his head resting in Howard’s arm as his torso laid across his lap. 

“I’ll call for help,” Mark then said before dashing off somewhere.

“I never thought I’d go out saving my ex’s fiancé,” Jason said before bringing a hand to his mouth and coughing, spots of blood staining it as he then rested it by his side once more.

“I’d say the same but you’re not going to die Jason, I can’t let you,” Howard responded, finding it difficult to look at him while keeping the tears in his eyes from spilling out.

“Maybe you can’t, but it’s not up to you.”

“It is because I let this happen, so I’ll be damned if you die because of me,” Howard said, but Jason seemed unconvinced.

“This wasn’t your fault, you were only trying to stop him.”

“It’s not just that, I’m the one who walked away, I broke my promise and now you’re paying for it.”

“You can’t seriously think th-” Jason was cut off by another fit of coughing, which Howard attempted to ease by sitting him up a little, but there was still blood splashed on his hands and his face, and he was laid down again. His breathing had begun to get heavier and sounded much more painful.

“This isn’t…karma, ok?” Jason finished, but Howard wasn’t really focusing on his words, he was just watching how Jason’s chest was beginning to rise and fall slower with every breath and how his words were such a trial to say.

“Don’t speak, you’re just making it worse for yourself,” Howard said as the tears began to fall.

“I need to…tell you something,” Jason responded, but Howard shook his head.

“You can tell me later because you’re going to be fine.”

It was then that Mark reappeared, a look of relief on his face.

“I called an ambulance, they should be here any minute.”

“Are you sure? Seems unrealistic.”

“Well I technically called them a while ago but then I had to come back, so by this point they shou-”

“How, please,” Jason cut in, his breathing becoming a lot more erratic and his voice desperate.

“What is it, Jay?” Howard questioned, though he was scared that if Jason let out these last desperate words, this would be it.

“I never…told you…I lo-” That’s when the sound of sirens was heard and Howard’s heard shot up.

“It’s alright Jay, you’re going to alright.”

But Jason didn’t say a word for he’d closed his eyes before his body went limp.

*  
“Fuck!” Robbie exclaimed as he clutched his shoulder.

Robbie and Gary had been restocking at the school but just as they went to leave, they were met with a rather large group of people. They’d fought off most of them but even with the last remainder, it was a difficult fight.

“Are you ok?” Gary questioned as he ducked back into the classroom to look at Robbie’s wound.

“Yeah, bastard nearly shot something important,” Robbie said, trying to play off just how much it really hurt as he tightened his grip.

“Will you be ok or should we leave through the back?” 

“It’s fine, I’ll live…I think.”

“There’s only a few left so I’ll get rid of them while you stay here, then we’ll go and help the others,” Gary instructed before opening the door and disappearing.

Robbie then let out a long-awaited gasp of pain before he stepped back, his back hitting the wall. He then proceeded to let himself slip down onto the floor before opening his blazer to look at the ever-growing blood stain on his side.

They’d been rushing back to the classroom after they’d saw the team of people waiting for them and at some point Robbie had turned to see if they were being followed and then it had happened. Robbie had gotten shot but he didn’t say a word about it because he needed to focus and help Gary so at least one of them could make it out.

He sat against the wall, breathing in and out with his hands over the wounds, soaking in blood, for a while and it worried him. What if Gary had been shot? What if he wasn’t back in time and Robbie died without even saying goodbye?

Fortunately though Gary came running back in the classroom a few minutes later, not realising just what was happening.

“Ok they’re gone, we can g-” Gary stopped himself as he looked down at Robbie, a mixture of emotions rushing over his face until he broke away from the confusion and dropped down in front of him.

“What happened? Did somebody get in?” Gary questioned, turning his head as if he expected to see another body.

“No, it happened earlier…I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Didn’t want me to worry? Like this is any better?” Gary asked, his eyes darting between Robbie’s face and the wound.

“I’m seeing…that maybe I made a mistake…but at least I get to say goodbye.”

“No, you’re not saying that, stop acting like you’re going to die.”

“Gaz, even if we…managed to get somebody out here...they won’t… make it in time, you know that,” Robbie replied, he’d really timed this perfectly, he got to say what he wanted before it was over, even if it broke his heart to see the tears in Gary’s eyes.

“You don’t know that,” Gary said, but his voice was quieter, his head was hung and it was obvious that he was just reaching for any kind of comfort.

It was then that despite the pain, Robbie leant forward, his eyes squeezed shut and his grip tightening to bear through it, and brought his free hand up and placed it behind Gary’s head before bringing it over to his own, their foreheads touching.

“I love you,” Robbie whispered, and this caused Gary to let out a choked sound as the tears in eyes began to fall.

Robbie didn’t say another word as even his breathing became painful and he struggled to keep his hand upright as Gary quietly sobbed, his own hand now placed behind Robbie’s head. They’d stayed like that until Gary’s tears had stopped and he finally found the energy to speak.

“I love you too,” Gary said, his voice shaky, and then just like that, Robbie’s vision became blurry and he felt his limbs go limp as he collapsed into darkness.


	20. Epilogue

Everything was white and blinding when Robbie first opened his eyes. It was so much so that he considered the possibility that he was in the afterlife because after all, he had blacked out after suffering such a fatal wound, so surely he must be dead?

However, the more he blinked, the less intense his surroundings became and he soon realised that he was actually in a hospital. He was laying in a bed in an incredibly white hospital room. Robbie had been in enough hospitals for various reasons, that weren’t always to do with work, to know that this was a decent one.

The room itself was small and there wasn’t anything particularly special or unique about it, well, aside from Gary that is. Gary was sitting in a rather uncomfortable looking chair beside Robbie and was leaning over, his head resting on his folded arms, which was folded neatly just beside Robbie’s arms. His eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy, indicating that he was deep in sleep and probably had been for a while. Gary was also dressed in different clothes since he last saw him. It wasn’t anything special, just a tight-fitting black t-shirt and some loose bottoms, but even despite this, he still looked rather pretty and peaceful to Robbie as he slept.

Robbie had then attempted to sit up, except that wasn’t a good idea apparently because the moment he shifted his weight, a sharp pain shot through him and that really hurt. He let out a quiet hiss of pain before deciding to just remain where he was. It was also because of this that he was reminded that he had been shot twice as he looked down and caught a glimpse of bandage around his shoulder peeking out from his gown.

So he laid there some more before realising that he had no idea how long he’d been there or if everyone else was ok. The last he’d heard was that they needed to get back as fast as possible because there was too many to deal with alone, which meant that there was certainly a large possibility that somebody had been hurt or even killed. It was a thought that Robbie didn’t want to dwell on and fortunately for him, he didn’t have to because Gary started to shift before he very slowly opened his eyes.

He watched as Gary blinked slowly, adjusting to the harsh lighting, before he sat up and stretched his arms and body, not even noticing Robbie until he coughed. That certainly startled him as his head whipped around and looked at Robbie, his eyes now wide in pure shock. He didn’t say a word or move for a moment before he stood up and launched himself at Robbie, wrapping his arms around and gripping him tightly. 

“Ow that really hurts Gaz,” Robbie said as Gary held him in death grip, and that of course caused him to leap back a little.

“Sorry, sorry, I just wasn’t sure what else to do,” Gary responded as he sat on the edge of the bed.

“It’s fine, I’m glad to have been missed so much,” Robbie said, a smile on face, which quickly disappeared as Gary then slapped him on his less damaged shoulder.

“Ow!”

“That’s for scaring me.”

“Sorry?” Robbie said as he rubbed his shoulder.

“You’re not forgiven.”

“Aww come on, it’s not like I planned it or anything, please forgive me.”

“Sorry, I can’t do that because if you’d died, which you almost did by the way, I’d have spent the rest of my life knowing I’d never find somebody as brilliant as you,” Gary explained, and Robbie shook his head.

“You can just say you’d miss my dashing good looks and my body Gaz, you don’t have to lie about my personality,” Robbie replied, succeeding in getting a smile from Gary.

“I would miss them as well now that you mention it.”

“See? I knew you only wanted me for the sex.”

“Damn, I really thought I had you there.”

“I’m too clever for you Gaz, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll forgive you if you forgive me for being an absolute tosser, sound fair?” Robbie offered, and Gary seemed to think it over before nodding.

“Ok, I forgive you Rob.”

“Awesome, can I kiss you now?” Robbie asked, and Gary didn’t even say anything before he leant across and kissed Robbie first.

It was short but sweet as they found themselves being interrupted by the door opening and somebody clearing their throat. It was the doctor and so the fun was over as she explained that Robbie seemed to be doing just fine but they were going to keep him in for a couple more days just in case, which didn’t seem too bad to Robbie at all.

Once she’d left, Robbie shifted across a bit before patting beside him. Gary then didn’t even seem to hesitate before sitting up properly on the bed and lying beside him, his head resting on top of his good shoulder.

“How long have I been here?” Robbie then questioned as he stared up at the blank ceiling.

“A few days, they were confident you’d recover but that was only if you woke up,” Gary replied, and Robbie nodded.

“Is everyone else alright?” Robbie asked, though he was scared to hear the answer.

“Mark and Howard are, they only suffered a few bruises…but Jason was hit.”

“Oh, is he…y’know?”

“No but they’re not sure if he’s going to pull through, they did some surgery and removed the bullet but honestly, I think they’re just hoping for a miracle,” Gary said, and Robbie was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say or think.

Jason had been there for Robbie even when he was unreasonable or just complaining about absolute nonsense and he felt terrible because he didn’t really deserve any of it. He’d only ever done good and was just trying to do his job and spare his friends but they didn’t believe him and called him selfish for that. If Jason died then one of the last things he’d done was call him a liar and mess about with him. He’d never got the chance to tell him how important he really was to him and his determination to succeed at times. 

“How’s Howard taking it?” Robbie then asked, if only to move away from his own guilt.

“Well he was very quiet and restless when we first got here, but so were we all, and then they took you and Jason off for surgery and after that, they told us you’re conditions and that Jason wasn’t looking too good and he just broke down, which I assumed was a rare thing, but ever since then, I’ve not seen him much since I’ve been here but Mark’s been by a few times and says that he hasn’t left Jason’s side aside from the times he’s dragged him home to sleep, but I suppose that’s to be expected if they were really close, I mean, I’ve not even let Mark drag me away yet,” Gary explained, and Robbie couldn’t even imagine Howard breaking down or losing his calm because he’d never seen it happen before.

“I wish I could see him and tell him it’s gonna be ok, I mean, I don’t know if it will but I have some faith, Jason’s strong and he’ll fight it, I know it.”

“I’d go and get him but I dunno if I could drag him away, even if you are his friend.”

“Yeah, he’d come by and check I was alright, but I know he’d just be waiting until he could go back.”

There was then a moment of silence before Robbie turned his head to look at Gary, who had been staring up as well until he noticed he was being watched.

“What?” Gary asked, the smallest of smiles appearing on his face.

“Nothing, just admiring your beauty is all,” Robbie replied, a smile on his own face, even after Gary gave him a light dig with his elbow.

“Give over, I look dreadful, I’ve been wearing the same thing for the past three days and haven’t been able to shower,” Gary said, and Robbie nodded knowingly.

“Yeah I noticed that, didn’t want to say anything about it.” That earned him a less friendly jab.

“Ow, careful, I’m wounded.”

“Yeah well you’ll have a lot more to deal if you keep the smart remarks up,” Gary responded as he folded his arms across his chest.

“You’re just saying that, you were only crying over me a few days ago.”

“Actually I’ve been crying for you every day since you got in here, thank you very much,” Gary explained, looking slightly proud of himself for a moment before realising that it wasn’t really something victory worthy.

“I mean, of course I’ve cried but not that much, just a normal am-” 

“Gaz, it’s ok, I would’ve done the same for you,” Robbie interrupted, and then they just stared at each for a while until Gary rolled onto his side and pressed himself up against Robbie’s side lightly before wrapping an arm across his torso, his head resting on top of his chest.

It was rather peaceful as they laid together, Robbie managing to wrap his free arm around Gary’s back. It felt very domestic, even if they were in a hospital after a massive shootout with a top-secret government organisation, of which they’d also been a part of.

“So does this mean we can go back to the village and actually be together then?” Robbie then questioned, and Gary nodded.

“Yeah, Howard released the files the other night when he went home with Mark, so I don’t think we’re going to any concern to the government anymore.”

“That’s good, I was hoping we’d get to live together without having to worry about somebody shooting up our house and breaking the nice windows,” Robbie said, and Gary let out a small chuckle. 

“Yeah, which reminds me, I’ll need to make room for your stuff, won’t I?”

“I suppose but I’ve not really got anything meaningful that I’m dying to bring with aside from like my clothes and shit,” Robbie replied.

“Well that makes things a lot easier then.”

“Also does this mean that we really are going to be that disgustingly affectionate teacher couple then?”

“Well you need to actually be qualified to do so but once you’ve done that, yes, I don’t see why not.”

“You’re really going to make me go to uni and shit to learn how to tell children to count and read?”

“Well my actual assistant is going to be back soon and if you’re done with the whole secret life, then yes, you need actual qualifications.”

“God, I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Robbie complained, making sure to really emphasise just how pained he was by this.

“I’m not _making_ you do anything Rob, I can’t _make_ you do anything,” Gary responded, and Robbie nodded.

“Yeah, I suppose not, it’s the other way round, isn’t it?” Robbie said, and Gary was silent for a moment before responding.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m not like super confident around other people, but in this relationship I’ve pretty much got the control when it comes to certain things,” Robbie explained, but Gary was apparently still a little confused, or not wanting to admit it.

“And just what kind of things do you mean?”

“Don’t play innocent Gaz, I can see it in your eyes, you're desperate for somebody to boss you about…in more ways than one if I might add,” Robbie said, and just as expected, he felt a light slap on his chest.

“You really have no shame, do you?” 

“None, I’d have said the same thing even if somebody was here,” Robbie replied, and Gary sighed.

“I suppose I’ll have to get used to it then.”

“’Fraid so.”

“Could be worse I guess.”

“Could be worse.” 

It wasn’t long after this that the two began to feel rather tired, even if Robbie had been unconscious for the past few days, and they soon closed their eyes. Robbie was even about to drift off when a thought came to him.

“Wait, so how did manage to register at a uni and shit if the government was after you?” Robbie questioned, his eyes snapping open.

“I have my connections,” Gary replied sleepily before he seemed to drift off completely.

Robbie decided he’d have to ask more later but for the moment, he simply closed his eyes and thought about everything he had ahead of him before drifting off into the most peaceful sleep he’d had in a long time.

*  
The sun was going down when Howard felt Mark shift in his lap. The two were sitting in Jason’s room at the hospital and had been for the past few days aside from the times that they’d gone home for some proper sleep. Howard had been sitting in the same chair right beside Jason’s bed all week with Mark sitting beside him or on him depending on how tired he is. 

At the time, Mark had been sleeping as he sat on Howard’s lap, his head resting against his shoulder. It didn’t look very comfortable but then again, Mark had been getting little sleep due to the fact that they’d go home very late and then get up early to go straight back to the hospital. It was because of this that Howard felt incredibly guilty because he was the one that made them stay so late and then woke Mark up every morning. Mark said he didn’t mind and that he wanted to come with so he wasn’t sitting alone, but he could see just how negatively it was affecting him. He’d tried being quieter in the mornings and leaving the hospital earlier, but it never seemed to work. Mark would always wake up when he did and Howard could never make himself leave at a time that made much difference.

“What time is it?” Mark asked as he rubbed his face and sat up straight.

“Half four,” Howard replied, brushing the pieces of loose hair out of Mark’s face.

“We should probably eat something then,” Mark said as he stretched.

“I was gonna leave it for a bit and then get something,” Howard replied, but he knew he was lying and it was obvious that Mark did too.

“You said that yesterday, so I’m gonna go now and get something, ok?” Mark said before leaning in and pressing a light kiss on Howard’s cheek.

“Will you be ok on your own for a bit?” Mark then asked when Howard still didn’t respond, and he glanced at Jason’s sleeping body for a moment before smiling and nodding.

“Yeah, I think I’ll survive,” Howard responded, and Mark could probably see straight through it, but he smiled back all the same before they shared a kiss.

Mark then hopped off his lap and left the room, leaving Howard in that same uncomfortable and dreadful silence once more. He really didn’t like being alone and was incredibly grateful for Mark’s company and the small man in general. Howard really did love Mark with his all his heart but he feared that with how much he wanted to be by Jason’s side over the past days would upset or confuse Mark into thinking otherwise, but it would a lie to think that. Howard simply needed to know if Jason was going to pull through or not because after all, they’d been through so much and it was difficult for him to see somebody who’d always been so strong in such a state.

Howard simply sat for a few minutes, pulling himself closer to the bed before folding his arms on the edge of the bed as he watched Jason. He looked like he was simply sleeping, which he was in away, except it was a sleep that he may not come back from. His chest was rising and falling at a regular rate and it was exactly these things that made Howard put his hands to his face, his body shaking as he began to cry. Jason looked too alive to be on the edge of death and he couldn’t take it.

“Either a floral rainbow died in here or Mark Own was here…I’m hoping for the former,” A raspy voice said, but not just any voice, it was Jason’s voice.

Howard’s head shot up and he saw Jason with his eyes open, looking understandably tired and a little worse for wear as he laid there, but he was awake and talking and that was all that mattered.

“Bloody hell, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Howard responded, and Jason let out a small laugh before coughing a little.

“That was the plan, obviously, I-” Jason was cut off by Howard standing up and embracing Jason, trying his best not to crush the still very fragile man.

“I thought I’d lost you,” Howard whispered, trying his best not to cry all over again.

“Aw, you know you can’t get rid of me _that_ easily.”

Howard then released him from his grip before sitting back down into his chair, a smile on his face. Everything was ok.

“I’ve a few things to tell you Jay, all good things I swear but first there’s one bad thing I need you to know and it’s that Rob is here too, he got hit but the good news from that is that he’ll recover when he wakes up,” Howard explained, and Jason nodded as well as he good manage from his position.

“That’s good to hear but before you tell me anything else, I need to tell you something and it’s important,” Jason said, making Howard’s smile drop because even though everything seemed to be ok, Howard was still a little nervous to hear the response considering he wasn’t even sure if they were on good terms, even after everything that had happened.

“Right, go ahead.”

“Ok, well when you’re up on a rooftop alone, killing assassins, you have a lot of time to think about your life when you realise that you might not survive the day, which I almost didn’t and so I would’ve died with many regrets.”

“What kind of regrets?” Howard questioned, even if Jason was clearly going to explain that.

“I would’ve regretted not telling you that I love you very much Howard, even if it took me a long time to realise it, but also that I understand that you’ve moved on and have found somebody much better than me and I wish you all the best, Mark’s a good man, a bit all the over the place, but a good person,” Jason replied, and Howard smiled before reaching across and taking his hand into his own.

“I also want to say that I’m sorry for everything I said or did to get in the way of you and Mark, I admit I may have been slightly jealous at the time,” Jason continued, making Howard laugh.

“Ok, I was incredibly jealous, you don’t have to much fun of me,” Jason said, a smile on his own face as he did so.

“I’m not, I’m just really happy you said that because I forgive you, you were just trying to look out for me, even if you also had jealous reasons alongside, and I’m grateful to have somebody like you in my life because even if you probably don’t believe me, I didn’t find somebody better than you, I just found the better romantic version for me, but you’ll always be my best friend and I’d never trade you for anyone.”

“Thank you, but the last thing I want to say is that if you and Mark decide to get married soon, I’d like to help out and be involved in any way if you’d let me because even if I still don’t completely agree with this rush decision, I want to support you because worst case scenario is that you get divorced in a month and I have to kill Mark.”

“Jay, come on,” Howard said, but he was still smiling, and Jason laughed.

“What? I’m _joking_.”

“Maybe but how much of it was a joke?”

“The threat was half a joke, I really will kill him if he hurts you, but the rest was the absolute truth, I really do want to be there on your big day,” Jason replied, and Howard could see that this was the whole truth.

“Thank you Jay, it means a lot and I appreciate how hard it’s been for you to say that.”

“It’s alright, I’m just glad I got to tell you that, even if was after a near death experience.”

“Yeah, which is why I wanna know, why _did_ you sacrifice yourself for Mark? I mean, I know you don’t hate him now, but that was your _life_ Jay, you were going to end it all for somebody you only just decided you liked,” Howard asked, and Jason sighed, his smile still on his face before responding.

“Because in that moment, I saw the fear in your eyes and how quickly and desperately you tried to save him and I knew that I had to save him, you need him and he needs you because you’re both a couple of idiots that just want somebody to love and do stupid and rushed things with, you only want companionship and that was bigger than my life, your happiness is important to me and I know you’d have done the same for Mark if you were in my position.”

“I would’ve but I also would’ve done the same for you, and as much as I appreciate what you did, like I can’t begin to even explain how grateful I am because if I’d have lost him, I don’t know what I would’ve done, you better not bloody pull something like that again or I’ll kill you myself.”

“I’ll try not to, I promise.”

It was then that the door opened and Mark reappeared with a plastic bag in hand, but he dropped that almost instantly.

“You’re ok!” Mark exclaimed before rushing over to Howard’s side.

“I am, thank you for noticing.”

“God, I just have a lot to say, thank you for what you did, I can’t even find the words to sa-”

“It’s fine, I was happy to jump in front of a bullet for you…just don’t ask me or expect me to do it again because it bloody hurt that did,” Jason responded.

“I swear I won’t but thank you again.”

“You know Markie? Jay was just saying how much he likes you and would love to do some bonding before we get married,” Howard said, and while Jason rolled his eyes, Mark’s eyes lit up and it was quite the sight.

“Really? I’d love to do that too, I like you a lot too Jason, even if you were planning on killing me, but that’s in the past, what I need you to know is that we’re delaying the wedding a bit since you and Gaz really don’t think it’s a good idea and since you’re the smartest people we know, we decided to listen,” Mark explained, and the amount of relief in Jason’s eyes almost made Howard laugh a little.

“He also said he’d like to help out and get involved with the wedding, didn’t you Jay?”

“I did, so whatever you need, I’ll try my best to help out.”

“Think you could give one last performance?” Howard said, a smirk on his face, which made Jason groan.

“I told you to never mention that.”

“Do you sing Jason?” Mark questioned, not aware of the little jokes meaning.

“Jay used to be in a break-dancing group and he was the best in it,” Howard explained, enjoying the moment a little too much.

“Oh shut up, you used to do the same thing.” And this just made Mark jaw drop.

“You can’t just say that and _not_ perform,” Mark said, and Jason seemed to think it over before nodding.

“Fine, I’ll do it if How does it with me.”

“Deal,” Mark said almost instantly, and Howard wasn’t going to object, he did like to dance.

The three then continued to talk a little before Mark gasped, causing slight alarm.

“Oh my god, I forgot to say, Robbie’s awake!” Mark exclaimed, and this just made the day a million times better.

The rest of the day was spent going in and out between Robbie and Jason’s rooms as they all made plans for the future and while nothing was certain, they were all excited and ready to begin their new lives together.

Even if it had all started with a meaningless contract, they got their fairy-tale ending, which made Jason wrong and that simply proved that anything was possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done!  
> Thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos, it means the world to me and honestly every time I saw a comment it just gave me a boost to write more, even when I was feeling down and didn't want to, your kind words got me there and made me enjoy writing this even more than when I first started it.  
> If anybody has any questions for some reason then I'll happily answer if you comment but otherwise please please please leave a comment of your overall thoughts, favourite parts, or just any thoughts in general because I love to read them and I will respond because they're all important!  
> So thank you again and I hope to be back soon with my next small fanfic I have planned and hope to write once I'm out of this depression mood.  
> Farewell!


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